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Personal Reminiscences 
 
 OF 
 
 ^ 
 
 James Af Scrymser 
 
 In Times of Peace and War 
 

 Copyright, 1915 
 By JAMES A. SCRYMSER 
 
 MAR li 1915 ' 
 ©CI.A397083 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ^ James A. Scrymser. 
 
 The Engineer Corps, Twelfth New York Militia, in the 
 Civil War. 
 
 '^Major-General Francis C. Barlow, U. S. A. 
 ^ Letter of General Smith to Captain Scrymser. 
 "^ The Rally of the Vermont Brigade. 
 1/ Major-General WiUiam Farrar Smith, U. S. A. 
 ^ John Pierpont Morgan. 
 ^ Chapel at West Point. 
 ^ Washington Statue. 
 
 ^ Picture of Grand Review of the Japanese Army, with Field 
 Marshal Oyama's Signatiu-e. 
 •^Century House, Harlem River, 1861. 
 •^Alfred Pell. 
 ^ Central and South American Telegraph Co. Building, 
 
 Buenos Aires, Argentine. 
 • Cable Map. 
 V' Genius of Electricity. 
 \/ Covmt Ferdinand de Lesseps. 
 v Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, D.D. 
 k/ United Charities Building, New York City. 
 / The Memorial to the Heroic Women of the Civil War, 
 Washington. The Headquarters of the American 
 Red Cross, 
 l/^iss Mabel T. Boardman. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 This book of personal reminiscences and comment is pub- 
 lished for my friends. 
 
 From time to time I have related incidents of the Civil War 
 and of my activities after the War, and numerous friends have been 
 good enough to suggest their compilation in book form. 
 
 Inasmuch as the book is for private circulation only — among 
 friends — its readers will, I am sure, be lenient in their judgment of 
 both its defects and the necessary frequent intrusion of the "first 
 person." 
 
 If an3rtliing be found between the covers of this book which 
 shall prove of interest to any of my old comrades or acquaintances, 
 or an incentive to any of my yoimger friends to be ever on the 
 alert to "seize the opportunity" — the ability to do so being the 
 keynote of success — I shall be satisfied. 
 
 JAMES A. SCRYMSER 
 New York, February, 19 15 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 In the Civn^ War: 
 
 General and Mrs. Francis C. Barlow 9 
 
 Brief Synopsis of My Civil War Service 14 
 
 The Opinion of tlie Fort Sumter Confederates Regarding the 
 
 Seventh Regiment of New York 16 
 
 In President Lincoln's Kitchen 17 
 
 General Franklin's Prophecy 19 
 
 Lieutenant George A. Custer 20 
 
 Near Richmond, June, 1862 22 
 
 The Recovered Gun 26 
 
 The Retreat from Malvern Hill 29 
 
 The Rally of the Vermont Brigade 31 
 
 The Ending of the Battle of Antietam 34 
 
 The Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation 36 
 
 The Army of the Potomac "Not Demoralized" 38 
 
 General "Ben" Butler 39 
 
 Mr. Choate's "Argument" in the General Fitz-John Porter Re- 
 Hearing 40 
 
 The "Great Conspiracy" 41 
 
 Citizenry-Trained Soldiers 42 
 
 Miscellaneous Incidents: 
 
 Mayor Hewitt in England 43 
 
 "English as She is Spoke" 44 
 
 Hon. Roscoe Conkling 45 
 
 Public Schools in England 46 
 
 Interview with Baron De Rothschild 4^ 
 
 The Minister of the Interior 51 
 
 A Hired Coach and Livery in the City of Mexico 53 
 
 Namesakes 55 
 
 J. P. Morgan and President Cleveland's Anti-Bond Issue 56 
 
 A Dinner in Honor of General Scott and Admiral Farragut 58 
 
 West Point 59 
 
 The Use of "Influence" 62 
 
 Cuban Independence 64 
 
 Field Marshal Oyama 66 
 
 The History of Three Cable Companies: 
 
 International Ocean Telegraph Company 67 
 
 Mexican Telegraph Company 75 
 
Page 
 
 Central and South American Telegraph Company 77 
 
 Map of the Mexican and Central and South American Telegraph 
 
 Co.'s Systems 79 
 
 "Genius of Electricity" 80 
 
 Extension to Brazil 81 
 
 Side-Lights on Cable Management 83 
 
 Wireless Competition 85 
 
 Mr. Jay Gould's Opposition 86 
 
 Count Ferdinand de Lesseps 89 
 
 Value of American-Owned Cables to the American Government and 
 Necessity of Governmental Jurisdiction: 
 
 Cable Connections during the Spanish American War 92 
 
 Wireless Telegraphy 102 
 
 Landing of Original French Cable Company 106 
 
 Civic Interests and Charities : 
 
 The Parkhurst Campaign, "Lest We Forget" 109 
 
 Public Schools in New York 126 
 
 Vacation Schools I35 
 
 United Charities Building 137 
 
 Memorial to the Women of the Civil War: 
 
 American Red Cross Building, in Washington 139 
 
General and Mrs. Francis C. Barlow 
 
 IN July, i860, there was a party of young men who made a daily 
 trip on the steamboat "Edwin," then plying between New York 
 and Yonkers. As one may imagine, the conversations at that 
 time were decidedly animated. Lincoln and Hamlin and Bell 
 and Everett had just been nominated by their respective parties 
 and, of course, politics was the chief talk of the day. 
 
 One of the party was Francis C. Barlow, a brilliant Harvard 
 graduate and subsequently a Major-General in the United States 
 Army. Barlow was a close personal friend of mine and we saw 
 much of each other in those days. 
 
 One afternoon the political discussion became serious. It 
 was a time for sober-mindedness. I remember Barlow particu- 
 larly that day. He was a good listener and had little to say but 
 when he did speak he commanded attention. After a rather 
 heated discussion. Barlow interrupted by saying, "You may talk 
 politics until you are deaf and dumb but slavery in this country 
 can be ended only by war, and war is sure to come, and all of you 
 must be prepared to enlist." I replied, "Frank, I will, if you will." 
 
 Nine months later President Lincoln issued his call for seventy- 
 five thousand volunteers! 
 
 I shall never forget April 20, 1861, nor a note I received from 
 Barlow bearing the date. The note simply read: 
 
 The time has come, remember your promise. Meet me at Del- 
 monico's at four o'clock to-day, Saturday, and we will enlist. 
 
 F. C. Barlow. 
 
 We met promptly at foiu- o'clock at the appointed place and 
 wandered up Broadway. That thoroughfare was a glorious sight; 
 many of the buildings were decorated with flags and patriotic em- 
 blems and the martial spirit was everywhere in evidence. Re- 
 cruiting squads, with fife and drums and flags, were parading the 
 
street with recruits and these recruits were later escorted to the 
 armories and there enrolled. 
 
 Barlow and I had formed no definite plan of enlisting and de- 
 cided to look around before doing so. We visited several armories, 
 finally arriving in front of the Twelfth New York State Militia 
 Armory, Colonel Daniel Butterfield. The Twelfth Regiment 
 Armory was on Broadway just north of the old Metropolitan 
 Hotel. 
 
 On the doorstep of the armory I recognized a friend of mine, 
 Capt. Alfred Jones, in gorgeous uniform. I hailed him and asked 
 what regiment he belonged to and what was his rank? Jones re- 
 plied, "It's the Twelfth Regiment of New York and I am its Chap- 
 lain and it's a d — n good regiment!" 
 
 The remark seemed to captivate Barlow, who declared that 
 a regiment that had a Chaplain who could swear was the regiment 
 in which we should enlist, and enlist we did, in the engineer corps 
 as Third Sergeants. The Company Sergeant ordered us to report 
 at midnight. Barlow demmred slightly to this order, explaining 
 to the Sergeant that he was going uptown to be married. He 
 promised, however, to report for duty at daylight the next 
 morning. 
 
 The following morning, Sunday, April 21st, the Twelfth 
 Regiment, one thousand strong, was deployed on Union Square, 
 the right resting on Fourteenth Street. It was an exciting time: 
 crowds were rushing to and fro, goodbyes were being said and 
 enthusiastic "God bless yous" were heard on every side. 
 
 On the corner of Fourteenth Street and Broadway I noticed 
 a lady, dressed in black and crying, and was surprised to see that 
 she was joined in a few minutes by my friend Barlow. Barlow 
 straightway called me and presented me to his "bride," Mrs. 
 Francis C. Barlow nee Miss Arabella Griffiths. Barlow looked 
 like anything but a married man. He did not appear to be more 
 than twenty years of age, looked liked a boy, and weighed less than 
 135 pounds. 
 
 The regiment sailed that noon on the steamship "Baltic" for 
 Annapolis, Maryland. 
 
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The next time that I saw Mrs. Barlow was in Washington, in 
 May, 1 86 1, at the Twelfth Regiment camp. Barlow had been 
 commissioned a Captain and, with the regiment, had been trans- 
 ferred to Harpers Ferry. I was left in charge of the camp guard 
 at Washington. 
 
 On a Sunday morning I was at the guard house and overheard 
 Mrs. Barlow insisting upon her right to visit the late quarters of 
 her husband, Capt. Barlow. I heard the Sergeant of the Guard 
 reply, "Madame, you can't play that on me; that boy is no hus- 
 band of your'n." I then appeared upon the scene and was able 
 to relieve Mrs. Barlow's embarrassment and testify to the fact that 
 she was Capt. Barlow's wife, so securing her admittance to the 
 camp. 
 
 I did not see Mrs. Barlow again for over a year, when we met 
 on the Hagerstown Turnpike, about a mile north of Dunker 
 Church — during the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. 
 Mrs. Barlow had left Hagerstown at midnight, accompanied by a 
 negro servant with a wheelbarrow on which was her trunk and a 
 bandbox. 
 
 The battle was raging with fury for two miles to the south of 
 us and the Hagerstown Road was necessarily exposed to the ar- 
 tillery fire of both armies. Realizing her danger, I escorted Mrs. 
 Barlow well to the east of the high-road and directed her to a field 
 hospital at Mummas Farm. 
 
 About noon, I saw Barlow, terribly wounded, being carried 
 on a stretcher and I arranged immediately to have Mrs. Barlow 
 join him. By her careful nursing his life was saved. 
 
 The next appearance of Mrs. Barlow, of which I have knowl- 
 edge, was at the Battle of Gettysburg, in July, 1863. There, in 
 a most heroic manner, she again saved her husband's life. General 
 Barlow was seriously wounded in the first day's battle, July ist, 
 while serving under General Reynolds. General Barlow's com- 
 mand, a division, had fallen back and in doing so were obliged to 
 leave General Barlow on the roadside crossing of the Gettysburg 
 and Carlisle Roads. While General Barlow was lying there, the 
 Confederate Generals, Early and Gordon, passed by with a troop 
 of cavalry. Gordon discovered Barlow by the roadside and re- 
 marked, within Barlow's hearing, "General Early, there is a 
 
 II 
 
Yankee General, perhaps we can do something for him." General 
 Early looked at Barlow and replied, "No, he is too far gone." 
 Thereupon Barlow raised himself upon his elbow, with difficulty, 
 and, shaking his fist, said, "General Early, I will live to lick you 
 yet, damn you." General Gordon then dismounted and gave 
 Barlow a drink from his flask. Barlow took from his coat pocket 
 a batch of letters, saying, "General Gordon, these letters are from 
 my wife; if I die, destroy them; if I live, keep them for me." 
 
 At this time, Mrs. Barlow was with General Hancock's com- 
 mand which, it will be recalled, did not reach Gettysburg until the 
 evening of the first day's fight. Hearing of General Barlow's in- 
 jury, Mrs. Barlow begged General Hancock for permission to pass 
 through the lines to care for her husband. General Hancock, 
 fearing that the enemy would learn that the Army of the Potomac 
 was then concentrated at Gettysburg, refused permission. Noth- 
 ing daunted, Mrs. Barlow herself found the way to Gulp's Hill, 
 where the lines were very close together and, at daylight on July 
 2nd, she ran from our side to the enemy's, and it is said both sides 
 fired on her. She was not hurt, however, and within half an hour 
 she was with her husband and her nursing and tender care were 
 undoubtedly the means of again saving General Barlow for the 
 Union cause. 
 
 Right here, it is interesting to make note of the fact that in 
 the Battle of the Wilderness, in May, 1864, General Barlow ful- 
 filled his threat to General Early and succeeded in capturing most 
 of General Early's command and sixteen of his guns. Barlow 
 himself was desperately wounded, for the third time. He was 
 transferred to a Washington hospital on a Sanitary Commission 
 steamboat, via Aquia Creek. During the trip, he was interviewed 
 by an elderly Sanitary Commission officer, who tenderly asked, 
 "My dear boy, are you badly wounded?" Imagine the elderly 
 officer's astonishment when Barlow replied: "I am not a boy, I am 
 a Major-General of the United States Army!" 
 
 At the Washington hospital, he was again nursed to life and 
 health by his noble wife. This heroic woman died of camp fever 
 shortly before the close of the war. Mrs. Barlow's services to the 
 Union can never be fully appreciated. She was but one of that 
 noble army of loyal women whose lives of coiurage, service and 
 
 12 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL FRANCIS C. BARLOW 
 
 General Barlow is on the extreme left of the picture, leaning against a tree 
 
 From the "Photographic History of the Civil War," reproduced by permission 
 
 of the Review of Reviews Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1911, by Review of Reviews Co. 
 
sacrifice did so much for the cause of the Union in the dark days 
 of the Civil War. The heroism of Mrs. Barlow inspired my sug- 
 gestion of a memorial in Washington, to the memory of the women 
 of the Civil War, referred to in another article. 
 
 After the war, General Barlow was elected Attorney-General 
 of the State of New York and, later. Secretary of State. 
 
 General Barlow died in 1896. During his illness and par- 
 ticularly just before his death, I saw him frequently. In my last 
 interview with him our conversation drifted back to the early days 
 of the war. General Barlow frequently spoke of his wife, "Ara- 
 bella," as he called her, and I remember well his prophecy at that 
 moment — that the time would come when the finest monument in 
 this country would be built to the memory of the loyal women of 
 the Civil War. Despite his illness. General Barlow grew enthusi- 
 astic upon the subject and said that some one should take the lead 
 in reminding the country of the immense debt of gratitude which 
 it owed to the heroic women of the war and I then and there 
 promised him that I would do all that I could do to carry out his 
 wishes and to see that his prophecy was fulfilled. 
 
 13 
 
Brief Synopsis of My Civil War Service 
 
 IN the preceding article I have referred to my enlistment April 
 20, 1 86 1, in the Twelfth Regiment of New York and its de- 
 parture for the front. 
 
 In June, 1861, the Twelfth was stationed near Fairfax Sem- 
 inary, Virginia. Shortly after our arrival there a Captain Smith 
 of the Topographical Engineers, United States Army (subse- 
 quently Major-General William F. Smith), applied to Colonel 
 Butterfield, of the Twelfth, for an assistant, to aid him in his 
 surveying work preparatory to the construction of fortifications 
 west of Alexandria, on Fairfax Heights. 
 
 It fell to my lot to be detailed to assist Captain Smith and 
 a large part of my work consisted in taking field notes of his sur- 
 veys. I served with him, in this way, for about two weeks. The 
 Twelfth Regiment returned to New York in August, 1861, having 
 served its period of enlistment, three months. 
 
 In the month of September following, I was surprised to 
 receive a note from Captain Smith informing me that he had been 
 nominated as a Brigadier-General and, as such, would have com- 
 mand of the Vermont Brigade. The note recalled the services 
 which I had rendered as his assistant in the field surveys, two 
 months earlier, and contained a very kind offer of a position as 
 Captain and Aide-de-Camp in his military family. 
 
 Under the Army regulations of that period, the Commanding 
 General of the Army had the appointment of forty Captains and 
 Aide-de-Camps, to be detailed to serve as such with the various 
 Division and Brigade Commanders of the Commanding General. 
 It seems that the Congress of the United States jumped at the 
 conclusion that these forty Captains and Aide-de-Camps were 
 to serve solely on the staff of General McClellan and this resulted 
 finally in the repeal of the Army regulation referred to. In con- 
 sequence, my appointment as Captain and Aide-de-Camp was 
 officially annulled and I had the pleasure of serving as Captain and 
 
 14 
 
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Aide-de-Camp for about four months without either oflBcial rank 
 or pay. 
 
 General Smith obtained for me a Lieutenancy in the Forty- 
 third New York Volunteers and had me detailed and nominated 
 as a Captain and Aide-de-Camp on his staff. I served in this 
 capacity until February 26, 1863, at which time I resigned, General 
 Smith having been assigned to civil duty in the Department of 
 the Gulf, to investigate the doings of Generals Butler and Banks. 
 In this investigation he was assisted by Honorable James T. 
 Brady, an eminent New York lawyer. 
 
 In April, 1864, General Smith was assigned to the command 
 of a division in the Army of the James commanded by General 
 Benjamin F. Butler, whom he had investigated a year before. 
 Upon this assignment of General Smith I volunteered to serve 
 and was in the official orders named as Volunteer Captain until 
 June, 1864. 
 
 In my Civil War career I served in the Battles of Yorktown, 
 Williamsbm-g, Mechanics ville, Seven Pines, Gaines Mill, Garnett's 
 Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Second 
 Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor, Balls Bluff, 
 Petersburg, and many skirmishes. 
 
 Later, because of differences between General Smith and 
 General Butler, the former was relieved of his command, where- 
 upon I resigned my volunteer service. General Smith was sub- 
 sequently appointed Chief Engineer in the Army of the Cumber- 
 land in which position he planned and directed the operations 
 which led to the Battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary 
 Ridge and the relief of Chattanooga. 
 
 None of General Smith's staff received any brevet rank for 
 their services in the War of the Rebellion. This was due to 
 General Smith's failure to file his recommendations with the 
 War Department in time. When these recommendations were 
 finally filed they were outlawed by an act of Congress, March i, 
 1869, which provided that on and after that date commissions 
 by brevet should be conferred only in time of war. 
 
 15 
 
The Opinion of the Fort Sumter Confederates Re- 
 garding the Seventh Regiment of New York 
 
 5H0RTLY after the fall of Fort Sumter, the citizens of Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, tendered a banquet, at the Pulaski 
 House, to the Southern officers who commanded the batteries 
 which caused the sturrender. Among those present at the banquet 
 was Mr. Samuel Ward, of New York, who has told this story. 
 
 It seems that during the banquet a telegraph message was 
 handed to Mr. Ward, and, Mr. Ward being a Northerner, there 
 was natm-ally much curiosity among those present to learn the 
 contents of the message. In response to the urgent inquiries of 
 the others, Mr. Ward finally replied, "Gentlemen, you will not be 
 pleased with the contents of this message, but, as you insist, I will 
 read it to you. The message says: 
 
 The Seventh Regiment, twelve hundred strong, left New York 
 to-day for the defense of Washington. 
 
 The reading of the message was greeted with loud laughter and 
 derision. When order was restored, Mr. Ward said, "Gentlemen, 
 you misinterpret the message. It means far more than you imag- 
 ine, it means that the North is a unit and that the North's best 
 blood, with its wealth, is opposed to you. Gentlemen, you are 
 beaten!" 
 
 i6 
 
In President Lincoln's Kitchen 
 
 WHEN the Twelfth New York Militia left New York for Wash- 
 ington, April 21, 1 86 1, I was one of the Engineer Company. 
 Colonel (afterward General) Butterfield commanding was then 
 very much of a "society" man, and we had been in Washington 
 but a few days when he became very intimate at the White House, 
 and particularly so with Mrs. Lincoln. Out of this came an inci- 
 dent in which Mr. Lincoln appeared for the first time in Washing- 
 ton in one of those homely relations with which afterwards the 
 public were to become so familiar through so many reminiscences. 
 Mrs. Lincoln told Colonel Butterfield that the White House cook 
 was in trouble — the "waterback" of the range was out of order. 
 "Couldn't he have it fixed that day — perhaps he had some soldier 
 plumbers?" Of course he had — the Twelfth was full of 'em (prob- 
 ably he would have offered to furnish aeronauts or lion-tamers if 
 she had wanted any) — and promptly he made a requisition on the 
 Quartermaster, — or perhaps it was the Adjutant — ^for plumbers to 
 go to the White House. The Adjutant, who knew little and cared 
 less about the matter, slid it over to the Engineer Company: 
 "Wanted, plumbers for the White House, by order Colonel Butter- 
 field." But none of the Company were plumbers — we ranked as 
 non-commissioned officers, and one of us — Frank Barlow — ranked 
 as Major-General later — and perhaps we did not feel complimented 
 even by the chance of a "job" at the White House. But I ven- 
 tured the opinion that there probably were some plumbers — in 
 other companies — and so was detailed to get them. I did — four — 
 and went along to "boss the job." It certainly was a sight — ^four 
 uniformed militiamen, with arms and accoutrements, marching 
 into the White House kitchen, with an admiring group of colored 
 servants looking on. We "stacked arms" and in a few minutes the 
 range was yanked out, and set in the middle of the kitchen, and 
 foiu: able-bodied New York plumbers were wrestling with its 
 waterback. The details of the job have escaped my memory, but 
 
 17 
 
not so my — and our — first sight of Mr. Lincoln. He came down 
 to the kitchen, and half-sitting, half-leaning on the kitchen table, 
 and holding one knee in his hands, the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 Army and Navy said: "Well, boys, I certainly am glad to see you. 
 I hope you can fix that thing right off; for if you can't, the cook 
 can't use the range, and I don't suppose I'll get any 'grub' to-day!" 
 It was a Saturday, possibly the President was also thinking of his 
 Simday dinner. 
 
 How the Twelfth saved the Presidential dinner ought to be 
 writ large in the regimental history. I know not if any of my foiu" 
 comrades of that occasion are living, but if any of them see the 
 story in print I am sure they will remember the event. 
 
 i8 
 
General Franklin's Prophecy 
 
 IN December, 1861, General "Baldy" Smith, had for his head- 
 quarters the Smoot House, a substantial double brick building 
 about eleven miles from Washington, near a place called Ivcwins- 
 ville, Va. 
 
 On the second Saturday in December, as I remember, there 
 was an impromptu luncheon party at these headquarters. The 
 luncheon was attended by General McClellan, General Meade, 
 General McCall, General Fitz-John Porter, General Hancock, 
 General W. T. H. Brooks and General Franklin, General Smith 
 acting as host. After the luncheon, I, with other members of 
 General Smith's staff, was invited to join the party, and I recall 
 the discussion which ensued as to the probable duration of the 
 war. It appeared to be the unanimous opinion that the war 
 would last for some years. 
 
 It was then that General Franklin vouchsafed a remarkable 
 prophecy, substantially as follows: 
 
 It is my opinion that the war will continue for several years 
 and, before the war is over, every one present, with one exception, 
 will be laid away on the shelf. That exception will be General 
 George G. Meade ; he will come out on top at the close of the war. 
 
 It was, as I have said, a remarkable prediction, inasmuch as 
 it proved to be such a true one. 
 
 It is regrettable that General Meade himself was so over- 
 shadowed by General Grant that Meade's great services as Com- 
 mander of the Army of the Potomac were never fully appreciated, 
 and that Meade never received the recognition to which he was so 
 justly entitled. 
 
 19 
 
Lieutenant George A. Custer 
 
 DURING the siege operations before Yorktown, in the Spring of 
 1862, Lieutenant George A. Custer, later the famous cavalry 
 general and Indian fighter, was assigned to duty as an engineer on 
 the staff of General "Baldy" Smith. We were advancing from 
 White House Station, on the Pamunkey River, to Richmond, and 
 General Smith's division was at the head of the column. 
 
 A story in connection with Custer at this time will, I am sure, 
 be well worth recording. 
 
 It all happened on a perfect day in June. The head of the 
 column had halted in a field adjoining Dr. Gaines' house — about 
 opposite Meadow Bridge, which crossed the Chickahominy at 
 that point. The field itself was a bluff some fifty or seventy-five 
 feet above the valley and the latter, for about two miles, appeared 
 to be one vast wheat field — from Meadow Bridge westward to the 
 Mechanicsville Bridge. The wheat was just ripening and its 
 golden color contrasted strongly with the green of the willow trees 
 on the banks of the Chickahominy River, winding its way through 
 the fields. 
 
 As General Smith and his staff were enjoying this superb view, 
 which embraced in the distance the chm-ch spires of Richmond, 
 General McClellan and his staff rode up. 
 
 General McClellan's first remark was addressed to General 
 Smith ; it was a query as to whether the Chickahominy River was 
 fordable. Before General Smith could answer, Lieutenant Custer, 
 hastily saluting McClellan, jumped on his horse, remarking as he 
 did so, "General, I will find out." Reining up his horse, Custer 
 leaped a five-rail fence and galloped down the hillside to the wheat 
 field below. As he approached the line of willows, on the banks of 
 the Chickahominy, he was obhged to ride Indian fashion — that is, 
 by throwing himself on the offside of his horse, as the Confederate 
 sharpshooters, along the river bank, opened fire on him. 
 
 20 
 
Custer galloped toward Meadow Bridge and we saw the horse 
 and rider disappear in the line of willows. In a few moments, to 
 our great delight, we saw the horse again, scrambling up the 
 river bank, with Custer once more throwing himself on the off- 
 side. At a gallop he came through the wheat fields and soon re- 
 timied to where we were all standing. When he reached us, Custer 
 dismounted from his horse, saluted General McClellan and handed 
 him a branch of willow which he carried, saying, "The river is 
 fordable, General, this willow is from the other side." 
 
 General McClellan immediately asked Custer his name and 
 Custer repHed, "Second Lieutenant Custer, Fifth Cavalry." 
 "Captain Custer," General McClellan responded, "you will re- 
 port to my headquarters this afternoon for duty on my staff. I 
 compliment you upon your gallantry and the valuable information 
 you have obtained." 
 
 This was the beginning of Custer's wonderful career, and I 
 have often wondered why some of General McClellan' s staff, in 
 fact some of General Smith's staff, did not "seize the opportunity," 
 as Custer did. 
 
 21 
 
Near Richmond, June, 1 862 
 
 THE Battle of Gaines Mill was fought on June 27, 1862. Gen- 
 eral Fitz-John Porter was in command and was later reinforced 
 by General Slocum's division and the Irish Brigade, under General 
 Meagher. The Army of the Potomac was cut in two by the Chick- 
 ahominy Valley, General Porter being in command of all the troops 
 on the north of the Valley and General William B. Franklin and 
 General Sumner on the south side of the Chickahominy. The 
 joint command on the south side comprised about 60,000 men. 
 
 Previous to the battle of Gaines Mill, General Lee had ad- 
 roitly crossed the Chickahominy at Mechanicsville, five miles 
 north of Richmond. He was joined two days after by General 
 Stonewall Jackson, fresh from his remarkable and successful cam- 
 paign in the Shenandoah Valley. General Jackson must have 
 made a marvelously quick march to have been able to reach Gen- 
 eral Lee so soon. 
 
 General Porter's battle at Gaines Mill was one of the most 
 desperate of the whole war and no good reason has ever been given 
 why the 60,000 men on the south side of the Chickahominy Valley 
 and within sight of the battlefield on the north bank, were not sent 
 to the assistance of General Porter, who was obliged to fight nearly 
 the whole of General Lee's army, together with that of General 
 Jackson. 
 
 The night after the battle of Gaines Mih, General Porter 
 crossed the Chickahominy at Trent House, some three miles south 
 of General Franklin's line of works four miles from Richmond. It 
 was evident to General Frankhn, and other officers, that General 
 Lee had withdrawn nearly all of his troops for the Battle of Gaines 
 Mill and that he had left but a thin line between the 60,000 Union 
 soldiers and the City of Richmond. 
 
 The second day after the battle of Gaines Mill, General Mc- 
 Clellan determined to make his celebrated change of base and 
 accordingly withdrew his whole army from in front of Richmond, 
 
 22 
 
marching it to the banks of the James River by way of White 
 Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill. General "Baldy" Smith, of 
 Franklin's left grand division, formed the rear guard. Immediately 
 in front of General Smith's command, which occupied the ex- 
 treme right, were the Confederate troops that General Lee had left 
 on the south side of the Chickahominy — about 10,000 men. The 
 Confederates were in a line on what was then known as Dr. Gar- 
 nett's farm. On the Union side there was a line of trenches a 
 quarter of a mile, or more, in length. These trenches faced west. 
 On the Confederate side there was a redoubt in an open field and 
 several lines of intrenchments. 
 
 The Confederates soon discovered that McClellan was with- 
 drawing, and, as usual in such cases, immediately opened an attack 
 upon the Union rear guard. 
 
 The Confederate command comprised a division, or more, 
 composed largely of Georgia troops, in command of General Cobb. 
 As an Aide-de-camp to General Smith, I was on duty in the ad- 
 vance line of works and, from my position, saw the Confederate 
 division, in three lines, coming across the open field double quick 
 and with their customary "rebel yeU." The Confederates had to 
 cover about two hundred yards and came on straight for our line 
 of works, which were largely occupied by General Smith's division. 
 The Confederate brigade commander was some ten yards in ad- 
 vance of his attacking force, and friend and foe alike could not but 
 admire his splendid bravery. This commander, who it later 
 transpired, was a Colonel Lamar, finally fell on the parapet, 
 within ten feet of where I was standing. He was terribly wounded 
 in the thigh. 
 
 One of our company officers carried Colonel Lamar's sword 
 to General Smith, explaining that he had captured the Colonel 
 and several of his soldiers! I at once informed General Smith of 
 the gallant manner in which Colonel Lamar had led his men and, 
 also, reported that two of otu^ own ofl&cers had been taken prisoners 
 after the melee in the trenches, from which the Confederates had 
 been driven back to their own lines. 
 
 General Smith immediately ordered the officer who had 
 brought in Colonel Lamar's sword to return the sword to Colonel 
 Lamar with General Smith's compliments and to say that "General 
 
 23 
 
Smith returned the sword because any one who led his men as 
 gallantly as had Lamar was entitled to keep it." 
 
 I then suggested to General Smith that as Colonel Lamar was 
 so badly wounded it might be well to exchange him for the two 
 Union officers, captured and held by the Confederates. General 
 Smith assented to this suggestion and, under a flag of truce, we 
 exchanged a wounded Confederate Colonel for two able-bodied 
 Union officers. Colonel Lamar came of a well-known Georgia 
 family. He was a nephew of Senator Lamar of Mississippi, who 
 was subsequently a member of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. 
 
 A number of years after the war, I think it was in the Spring 
 of 1869, I happened to be in the gallery of the Senate Chamber in 
 Washington and there heard the first discussion on silver. At 
 that time it was well known that Senator Conkling, of New York, 
 was leaning toward the silver side of the question and, as soon as 
 the Bill was called, I observed that he left his chair and sauntered 
 into the lobby, thereby avoiding the vote which was about to be 
 taken. As a New Yorker I was not proud of the scene. 
 
 As the vote of the States was called, Senator Lamar, the Sen- 
 ator from Mississippi, sent to the desk a document with the re- 
 quest that it should be read to the Senate. The document proved 
 to be iron-clad instructions from the Legislature of the State of 
 Mississippi, directing Senator Lamar to cast his vote for silver. 
 After reading the document, the Chair turned to the Senator and 
 asked "And how does the Senator from Mississippi vote?" With 
 a firm voice. Senator Lamar replied, "I vote No," whereupon 
 there was loud applause throughout the gallery of the Senate. The 
 Senator had voted in accordance with his convictions and had re- 
 fused to follow the instructions of the Legislature of his own State. 
 
 I insert this story here because it seems to fit in so well with 
 the story of the wounded Colonel Lamar, of 1862. The with- 
 drawal of Senator Conkling from the Senate Chamber and the 
 courageous stand of Senator Lamar suggested to me, that "ex- 
 changes" were again in order and that it might be well for the 
 State of New York to exchange Senator Conkling for Senator 
 Lamar. 
 
 24 
 
The particulars of these two events, the fight at Garnett's 
 Farm and the first vote on silver in the Senate, were embodied in a 
 letter which I sent to Senator Lamar, inquiring if he was the 
 Colonel whose exchange I had negotiated at the battle on the Farm 
 in June, 1862. To my inquiry, Senator Lamar replied that the 
 Colonel referred to was a nephew of his, and he added the infor- 
 mation that there had been sixteen Lamars in the Confederate 
 Army. 
 
 25 
 
The Recovered Gun 
 
 DURING the Battle of Gaines Mills, General Butterfield com- 
 manded the Brigade on the extreme left of General Fitz-John 
 Porter's Army. This formation brought the left of Butterfield's 
 Brigade well down into the Chickahominy Valley. The Sixth 
 Army Corps, commanded by General "Baldy" Smith, was on the 
 south side of the Chickahominy, from which point it maintained 
 a lively artillery fire, serving to hold the Confederates in check as 
 they advanced on Butterfield's lines. When darkness came on, 
 our artiUery firing ceased and about midnight Butterfield's Brigade 
 straggled across the Chickahominy and joined Smith's command. 
 General Smith immediately ordered Butterfield's Brigade in his 
 line of works and issued rations to them on the condition that they 
 would stay there. About daylight. General Smith received a 
 telegram from General Butterfield, who was at Trent House, 
 General McClellan's headquarters — ^four miles south of our front. 
 The telegram read: 
 
 General Smith. Where is my Brigade? 
 
 To which Smith replied: 
 
 Come and see. 
 
 A few hours later, the movement known as the "McClellan 
 change of base" was in motion. The divisions of Generals Frank- 
 lin and Smith acted as a rear guard. At that time most of Lee's 
 Army was on the north side of the Chickahominy and it was sup- 
 posed that only a small force was between Richmond and our rear 
 guard. I overheard General Franklin say to General Smith: 
 " 'Baldy,' call in your pickets and fall back on Savage Station." 
 To this General Smith replied: "Frank, give me the order and I 
 will put my command in Richmond before they shall have a mouth- 
 ful to eat." General Franklin answered: "I believe you could do 
 it, but our orders are to fall back." 
 
 26 
 
It fell to my lot to call in the pickets and follow the Army to 
 Savage Station. In the retreat I discovered an abandoned Whit- 
 worth Gun, which I afterwards learned belonged to the First Con- 
 necticut Heavy Artillery. With some of the picket men, we tried 
 to haul the gun out of the ravine in which it was abandoned, but 
 were soon obliged to leave it, because of the lively fire of the Con- 
 federate sharpshooters. I overtook General Franklin on the road 
 to Savage Station and reported the facts regarding this abandoned 
 gun. General Franklin immediately ordered me to take a team of 
 horses, with cannoniers from the first field battery I could reach, 
 and added that he relied upon me personally to "recover that gun 
 at all hazards." 
 
 Fortunately, there was a spur of woods through which we 
 could reach the gun without being much exposed to the enemy. 
 Dismounting, we crept up on our hands and knees to the gun. To 
 my surprise I found that it was equipped with a pole and chains 
 for a mule team, and this equipment would not suit the harness of 
 the artillery horses which we had brought for the recovery. The 
 occasion was an exciting one and we fell back a short distance. 
 The Confederate sharpshooters had located our rescuing party and 
 we decided that there was no time to be lost. The whole party, 
 sergeant and cannoniers, dashed into the ravine again, stretched 
 the trail rope, wound it around the pole, and tied the whifiietrees 
 and pole chains of the mule outfit to the traces of the battery team. 
 With a hurrah, we galloped out of the ravine under a heavy volley 
 from the Confederate sharpshooters. Three of the Battery team 
 and a corporal were wounded, but the gun was turned over to 
 General Franklin, who thanked us all for otu: success. 
 
 Even at this late day, over fifty years later, I recall my ner- 
 vousness as I rode across the open field at a gallop for that gun. In 
 the distance I could see a line of rebel skirmishers coming forward 
 at the double quick. I realized that, being mounted, my little 
 command had the advantage, although some invisible sharpshooters 
 held us in check at times and, on our retreat, quickened our move- 
 ments. I remember mentally questioning myself as to the value 
 of the gun and whether it was worth the risk. I braced up, how- 
 ever, by repeating to myself the order of General Franklin: "Re- 
 cover that gun at all hazards" — at all hazards! I now believe I 
 
would have abandoned the gun when I found that the breech piece 
 was missing were it not for the General's explicit orders ringing in 
 my ears: "Recover that gun at all hazards." 
 
 At Westover, on the James River, an officer of the First Con- 
 necticut came to our headquarters to thank me for saving the gim 
 and promised that he would send the staff a case of champagne. 
 It is needless to add that the case never arrived ! 
 
 28 
 
The Retreat from Malvern Hill 
 
 THE day following the Battle of White Oak Swamp, the Army 
 of the Potomac fought the Battle of Malvern Hill. 
 At about midnight the night after the battle General Fitz- 
 John Porter's command withdrew and took up the line of march 
 for Harrison's Landing, eight miles further down the James River. 
 Upon learning that Porter's division was on the move, the other 
 division commanders, despite the absence of any orders, gave the 
 word to follow and in all of my three and a half years of Army ex- 
 perience I never saw anything that equaled the demoralization 
 and recklessness of our soldiers in the retreat from Malvern Hill. 
 There was but one road available for all of these divisions and 
 many of the marching columns were forced to take to the open 
 fields. These, because of a drenching rain, were fields of mud and 
 soon all semblance to marching order was lost and the "change 
 of base" resembled a surging mob, without regimental organiza- 
 tion. I saw many men break the stocks off their muskets and 
 toss them in the ditches. 
 
 At the carriage entrance to Westover House (Harrison's 
 Landing) there was a large oak tree. General Smith's staff 
 oflBcers got together there and by crying out "Smith's division 
 rally on that big tree," these cries resulted in the assembling of at 
 least ninety per cent of the division and before sundown the di- 
 vision was reorganized and in good shape for any emergency. 
 
 Dining the afternoon I was ordered to find General Mc- 
 Clellan's headquarters. Just in front of Westover House, I found 
 one of General McCleUan's staff ofl&cers. Upon my asking for 
 the General's headquarters, he replied, "This is Headquarters and 
 I am the only representative." I knew the officer intimately and 
 he showed me a note which had been brought to him by an orderly. 
 The note was addressed to "General McCleUan's Headquarters," 
 and read as follows: 
 
 29 
 
General McClellan: 
 
 Generals Marcy, Van Vliet and I are on board the Gunboat 
 "Galena," your army is totally routed, you had best come aboard. 
 
 Andrew Porter, 
 Brigadier-General and Provost Marshal. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that General McClellan did board a 
 gunboat and the reason given for his doing so was that he might 
 make a reconnaissance and ascertain what the enemy were doing 
 at Malvern Hill and beyond. 
 
 History now tells us that the enemy were retreating from Mal- 
 vern Hill in the direction of Richmond, while the Army of the 
 Potomac was retreating at the same time in the direction of West- 
 over. It has been claimed and justly, I think, that if McClellan 
 had followed up his victory at Malvern Hill, he could have entered 
 Richmond without much difficulty. 
 
 The following morning, at daybreak, a section of Confederate 
 artillery opened fire on the demoralized and disorganized Army of 
 the Potomac. It was a mixed mass of infantry, artillery and a 
 small remnant of the cavalry of that Army. On the report of the 
 first gun, hundreds of men ran to the banks of the James River for 
 shelter. Fortunately, the Vermont brigade, of Smith's division, 
 under command of General W. T. H. Brooks, having been well re- 
 organized the previous afternoon, were deployed as skirmishers 
 and quickly drove the rebel battery out of sight. 
 
 I was sent to General McClellan's headquarters for orders and, 
 while there, overheard the following conversation betweeen Gen- 
 eral McClellan and General Reno. General Reno said to General 
 McClellan, "I did suppose there was someone in command of this 
 Army who would know enough to order pickets posted, so as to 
 prevent the enemy driving into our midst and opening an artillery 
 fire before its advance was discovered." And General McClellan 
 replied: "Reno, we are in a bad fix but with a little patience and 
 prompt action things will improve." 
 
 General Reno was evidently very much disturbed and in- 
 dignant at the condition of affairs. He was a gallant soldier and 
 was killed at the Battle of South Mountain, Maryland, the follow- 
 ing September. 
 
 30 
 
The Rally of the Vermont Brigade 
 
 THE so-called "Battle of White Oak Swamp" on June 30, 1862, 
 was not a battle in any sense ; it was rather what might be termed 
 a rear guard fight. Its principal feature was the terrific artillery 
 firing of General Stonewall Jackson's command. 
 
 General "Baldy" Smith's division, having been engaged in 
 the fight at Savage Station the day before, crossed White Oak 
 Swamp during the night, destroying the bridges as they proceeded. 
 The division bivouacked that night on the hillside south of the 
 Swamp. 
 
 General Jackson's artillery was secretly massed in the woods 
 on the crest of the hill, on the opposite side of the swamp, about 
 one thousand yards away. At about 2.00 p.m. the next day the 
 enemy opened an artillery fire and the attack was so sudden and 
 severe that our troops were stampeded. They rallied, however, in 
 the woods on the crest of the hill, in the rear. 
 
 The Vermont Brigade, at that time consisting of four regiments 
 and numbering about twenty-five hundred men, was on the left 
 of our line and was there exposed to an enfilading fire of the enemy's 
 batteries. It so happened I had been ordered by General Smith to 
 see that the Vermont Brigade should take a position behind the 
 crest of the hill and, consequently, I was the only mounted officer 
 on that part of the field when the enemy opened fire. There was 
 at the moment much confusion and I realized that something must 
 be done immediately or the confusion would be apparent to the 
 enemy. At once I saw the necessity of rallying the Vermont Bri- 
 gade. I found the four regimental color-bearers in a group, well 
 to the front and they asked me for orders. I told them to uncover 
 their colors immediately and to take positions one hundred yards 
 apart; then, riding in among the men, I ordered them to rally on 
 the colors. There was some hesitation, as the men did not recog- 
 nize their individual regimental colors. Perceiving this hesitation 
 1 shouted repeatedly, "You belong to the State of Vermont, fall in 
 
 31 
 
with the colors nearest to you and advance!" In a few minutes 
 there were at least thirteen hundred men in line and, on my order, 
 they went forward at the double quick, in open order, firing at 
 will. Very shortly after this advance, Jackson's artillery ceased 
 firing and it was evident that by oiu* prompt advance the enemy 
 had been made to believe we were in strong force on his front and 
 flank. The movement, judging from General Jackson's own re- 
 port, served to check the infantry attack which Jackson had pre- 
 pared to make after his terrific artillery fire. 
 
 General Jackson's report to Headquarters (No. 232) reads as 
 follows: 
 
 About noon we reached White Oak Swamp and here the enemy- 
 made a determined effort to retard our advance and thereby to pre- 
 vent an immediate junction between General Longstreet and myself. 
 We found the bridge destroj'-ed and the ordinary place of crossing 
 commanded by sharpshooters. A battery of 28 guns from Hills and 
 Whitings' artillery was placed by Col. S. Crutchfield in a favorable 
 position for driving off or silencing the opposing artillery. About 
 2 P.M. it opened suddenly on the enemy. He fired a few shots in 
 reply and then withdrew from that position abandoning part of his 
 artillery. Capt. Wooding was immediately ordered near the bridge 
 to shell the sharpshooters from the woods, which was accomplished, 
 and Mumford's cavalry crossed the creek, but was soon compelled 
 to retire. It was soon seen that the enemy occupied such a position 
 beyond a thick intervening woods on the right of the road as enabled 
 him to command the crossing. Capt. Wooding's battery was conse- 
 quently recalled and our batteries turned in the new direction. The 
 fire so opened on both sides was kept up until dark. We bivouacked 
 that night near the swamp. 
 
 The illustration on the opposite page is a recent photograph 
 of a painting by Julian Scott, "the boy artist of the Army of the 
 Potomac." The painting, entitled "The Rally of the Vermont 
 Brigade, " is the property of the Union League Club of New York 
 and was photographed by their kind permission. It is said that 
 no man sees himself as others see him, but as the artist assured me 
 that the mounted figure on the left was none other than myself, I 
 assume that I must bow to his portrayal. 
 
 Forty-seven years have elapsed since Julian Scott finished the 
 picture, and pictures, like individuals, fade with the lapse of time. 
 The dramatic scene, despite its seeming "imperfections," is pub- 
 
 32 
 
»' H 
 
 
 
 x; ;; S 
 
 c! fT 
 
 „ O " !0 
 
 P" o >o - 
 
 
lished because Scott himself assured me that it was intended as a 
 portrayal of the "Rally of the Vermont Brigade," which I have en- 
 deavored to describe. 
 
 My object in telling the story is to give credit to the gallant 
 Green Moimtain boys. I do not, of course, claim that Stonewall 
 Jackson's command was checked solely through my instrumen- 
 tality. The incident, however, reminds me of a story which I 
 heard in my boyhood regarding the evacuation of the City of New 
 York by the British forces, and their fleet, in the Revolution. A 
 New Jersey farmer living at Fort Lee, on the banks of the Hudson, 
 hearing that the British were leaving, mounted his horse and gal- 
 loped to Bergen Point, from whence he saw the last British ship 
 passing out of the Narrows. Tuming to a bystander he exclaimed : 
 "I do not claim that the British were leaving because I was coming, 
 but it looks very much like it." 
 
 33 
 
The Ending of the Battle of Antietam 
 
 IN one of his Civil War articles, Mr. G. W. Smalley evinces a de- 
 sire to learn the time and place when General McClellan definitely 
 decided to discontinue his attacks on General Lee's line. 
 
 At the time of the Battle of Antietam, I was an Aide-de-camp 
 on the staflf of General "Baldy" Smith, whose division was on the 
 march at the head of General Franklin's command. This com- 
 mand, on the morning of September 17, 1862, marched hurriedly 
 from Crampton's Gap, across country, to the line of battle on the 
 west side of Mumma's Woods — parallel with the Hagerstown turn- 
 pike and about 150 yards east of that turnpike, directly in front of 
 the Dunker Church. 
 
 Generals Smith and Hancock, with their staffs, were con- 
 siderably in advance of their troops. 
 
 As we approached the front we found about twelve pieces of 
 our artillery in a useless condition, on the west border of the woods. 
 Lieutenant Rufus King, of the Fourth United States Artillery, 
 was the only artillery officer in sight and he reported that many of 
 the men and horses belonging to these batteries had been killed 
 and disabled and that they of the artillery were without infantry 
 support. 
 
 At this critical moment. General Hancock rode out on the 
 cornfield, in front of the batteries, and shouted that the enemy 
 was advancing. 
 
 General Smith immediately ordered the 20th New York In- 
 fantry to advance in line through the cornfield at the double quick. 
 In its charge, of about one hundred yards, this regiment lost 20 per 
 cent in killed and wounded. It drove the enemy back, however. 
 After the charge, the 20th was ordered to lie down behind the crest 
 of a slight rise. The prompt advance of the 20th New York un- 
 doubtedly checked the enemy's advance and saved our artillery. 
 
 As nearly as I can remember now, this movement took place 
 at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon. Shortly after that time 
 General McClellan arrived on the field and joined Generals Frank- 
 
 34 
 
lin, Smith, Sumner, Slocum and others. There was a hasty con- 
 ference in the cornfield as to what had taken place and the ad- 
 visability of continuing the attack on the enemy's lines, in the 
 neighborhood of Dunker Church. General Franklin advised that 
 Bmnside's attack on the enemy's right should be pushed with 
 vigor and that there should be simultaneous attacks on the enemy's 
 extreme left, and at Dunker Chmrch. 
 
 While this conference was taking place, the Confederates 
 pushed a piece of artillery, by hand, to the crest of the hill, on the 
 Sharpsburg road, a little south of Dunker Church. When in 
 position, the gun was fired at the group of officers, some twenty or 
 more, then in consultation. Fortunately for the Union cause, the 
 range was too high and the charge of cannister, although fired 
 within 150 yards of the group, passed harmlessly over the Union 
 generals. I have often thought that the firing of this gun, at this 
 critical moment, was an important factor in determining that there 
 should be no further attack on the enemy's line. 
 
 General McClellan quickly called upon General Sumner for 
 his opinion as to the situation. General Sumner's reputation was 
 that of a fighter and I believe that he, when he then advised that 
 the fighting should cease, did so for the first time in his career. 
 General Sumner's whole command had been engaged and was 
 badly cut up and unfit for service. 
 
 General McClellan then turned to General Franklin, saying, 
 "Frank, hold on to all you have, reinforce General Sumner's line 
 and make no ftu^ther advance, acting solely on the defensive until 
 fiu-ther orders." McClellan then ordered Sumner to withdraw 
 his line and to reorganize his command. Although General Sum- 
 ner had with him a half-dozen staff officers, he tm-ned to his son, 
 saying: "Sammy, my boy, ride out to the skirmish line and order 
 it and the division to fall back at once." 
 
 It was a sight that I shall never forget. In the most touching 
 manner, "Sammy," who was an Aide-de-camp on his father's 
 staff, and then only about eighteen years old, raised his cap and said, 
 "Goodby, father," and the General answered, "Goodby, my boy." 
 
 Thus ended the last attack on the enemy's lines in front of 
 Dunker Church, on September 17, 1862. 
 
 "Sammy, my boy" is now Brigadier-General Samuel Sumner, 
 U. S. A. (retired). 
 
 35 
 
The Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation 
 
 I WELL recall the night preceding the reading of President 
 Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation to the Army. 
 
 At midnight on the 22nd of September, 1862, I was called to 
 escort General William F. Smith to a conference at General Mc- 
 Clellan's headquarters. The conference was an important one 
 and only division commanders were admitted. With other Aides, 
 I remained outside but subsequently learned from General Smith 
 what had taken place. 
 
 General Smith told me that all of the division commanders 
 were present when the meeting was called to order by General Mc- 
 Clellan. The scene must have been a dramatic one. General 
 McClellan opened the proceedings by stating that he had received 
 from the President of the United States a proclamation of con- 
 ditional emancipation, which, in brief, called upon the enemy to 
 siurender on or before January i, 1863, and warned it that failure 
 to do so would result in the emancipation of all slaves. General 
 McClellan stated that the proclamation was accompanied by an 
 order to have the same read to the entire Army the day following 
 its receipt. 
 
 General McClellan then read a proposed form of protest, 
 which he had prepared and, after reading, asked that it be signed 
 by all present, if approved. The protest was addressed to the 
 President of the United States and it was to the effect that the 
 reading of the proclamation to the Army would have a most de- 
 moralizing effect and that the Army of the Potomac could not be 
 expected to win battles if officially informed that it was fighting 
 for the emancipation of slaves. 
 
 Two of the Generals immediately approved of General Mc- 
 Clellan's formal protest and it then came General Smith's turn to 
 speak. General Smith, in no uncertain words, strongly objected 
 to the protest and advised, with vehemence, that the orders of the 
 President of the United States should be obeyed, closing with the 
 
 36 
 
Reproduced by the kind 
 
 permission of the 
 
 publishers. 
 
 Professional Memoirs 
 
brief but effective statement that his command would fight when- 
 ever and wherever ordered, and that the only demoralization of 
 which he was cognizant was in that tent. 
 
 The scene, as I have said, must have been a dramatic one. 
 After the remarks of General Smith the conference broke up. It 
 is sufficient to state that the proclamation of conditional emanci- 
 pation was read the following day to the Army, at dress parade, as 
 ordered by President Lincoln. 
 
 37 
 
The Army of the Potomac "Not Demoralized** 
 
 ON May 30, 1909, there appeared an article in The New York 
 Tribune, entitled "A Chapter of Unwritten History," by 
 George W. Smalley. 
 
 In this article, Mr. Smalley states that, after the Battle of 
 Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, he was sent by the managing 
 editor of The Tribune on a mission of inquiry to the Army of the 
 Potomac, the mission being to ascertain who the Army of the 
 Potomac wanted for a leader. 
 
 I have nothing to say in regard to that feature of his mission 
 but I do feel that I should combat Mr. Smalley's oft-repeated 
 statement that the Army of the Potomac was, at the time of his 
 mission, "demoralized." Mr. Smalley says, in his article, that he 
 was obliged to report to Mr. Gay, managing editor of The Tribune, 
 "that the demoralization was complete" and, he adds, "such in- 
 terest as the matter has is now historical, and so for the first time 
 I make public a part, and only a part, of what I learned in that 
 month of May, 1863." 
 
 To my mind, it is better, in writing history, that mistakes 
 without foundation should not creep in, particularly after a lapse 
 of "forty-odd years," and it is better still that such mistakes 
 should not be "copyrighted." 
 
 I take exception to the statement that the Army of the Poto- 
 mac was "demoralized" at that time. The Army itself was not 
 demoralized; if there was any demoralization it was "higher up." 
 
 In support of my contention, it is simply necessary to call to 
 mind the fact that, within a few weeks after Mr. Smalley's report 
 of demoralization, the Army of the Potomac fought and won the 
 Battle of Gettysburg. The fighting and the winning of the Battle 
 of Gettysburg would seem to disprove the claim "that the soul had 
 gone out of it" (The Army of the Potomac) and "that its demorali- 
 zation was complete." 
 
 38 
 
General "Ben" Butler 
 
 IN the Spring of 1864, General Butler's command, consisting of 
 Smith's and Gilmore's divisions, sailed fiom Old Point Comfort 
 to Bermuda Hundreds, between Richmond and Petersburg, on the 
 James River, the two divisions comprising about eighteen thousand 
 men. Their landing was a great surprise, so much so that our 
 skirmishers were enabled to capture a telegraph office on the Ap- 
 pomattox River. The operator of that office had left in such haste 
 that he, apparently, quite forgot his ten-year-old boy, who was 
 found in charge of the telegraph office. It looked at the time as if 
 the boy had been left there intentionally, for he had a most alarm- 
 ing story to tell us, to the effect that General Lee had "wiped out" 
 Grant in the Wilderness and was then marching rapidly to over- 
 take Butler's command and capture it. General Butler listened 
 to the boy's story and, taking him by the ear, cross-examined him 
 behind a clump of bushes. After the "third degree" was completed 
 the General retturned, still holding the boy by the ear. Turning to 
 the officers near-by General Butler said, "Gentlemen, this boy is a 
 liar — there is not a word of truth in what he says about Lee's vic- 
 tory over Grant, so don't be alarmed." 
 
 Hearing this, the little boy shook himself free and exclaimed 
 with a voice filled with indignation, "You call me a liar? I know 
 who you are! You are 'Beast Butler' and when I get old enough 
 I'll lick you. You stole my grandmother's spoons." Such an ex- 
 hibition of pluck was surprising, considering the attack was on 
 General Butler, who had eighteen thousand soldiers behind him. 
 
 39 
 
Mr. Choate's "Argument" in the General Fitz-John 
 Porter Re-Hearing 
 
 5 PEAKING of General Fitz-John Porter, I was visiting in the 
 neighborhood of West Point, at the time of the re-hearing of the 
 trial in which Porter had been dismissed from the service. Kjiow- 
 ing General Porter as I did, I, of course, attended the re-hearing. 
 
 The Court was composed of General Tyler, General Getty 
 and General Schofield. 
 
 The Government was represented by Colonel Asa Bird Gard- 
 iner, U. S. A., then Adjutant-General. General Porter was repre- 
 sented by Messrs. Choate and Bullitt. Colonel Gardiner addressed 
 the Court something over forty-eight hours in all. The ther- 
 mometer was in the nineties, yet Colonel Gardiner appeared in 
 full war paint, cocked hat, epaulets and spurs. Colonel Gardiner's 
 address dealt mainly with Army Regulations and these, of course, 
 the veteran ofl&cers of the Court knew better than their prayers. 
 
 At the conclusion of Colonel Gardiner's address, Mr. Choate 
 arose and in his inimitable way opened his brief address to the 
 Court, in the following manner: 
 
 We have listened with patience to the remarks of the distin- 
 guished Adjutant-General of the United States Army. His long ar- 
 gument reminds me of the advice once given to the graduating class 
 of the Theological Seminary of Tennessee, which was : 
 
 "Now, boys, remember one thing, do not make long prayers, al- 
 ways remember that the Lord does know something." 
 
 It is needless to say that the Court reinstated General Fitz- 
 John Porter. 
 
 40 
 
The ** Great Conspiracy' 
 
 A NUMBER of years after the close of the war, I happened to 
 meet General Fitz-John Porter at the Catskill Mountain 
 House, where we were both staying. It proved to be a most in- 
 teresting renewal of otu: former Army acquaintance. 
 
 After many delightful reminiscences, General Porter informed 
 me, in a most confidential manner, that he had something to tell 
 me, and I judged that the information was of a decidedly secret 
 nature as the General insisted that I climb with him to a certain 
 isolated spot on the side of the mountain before he would divulge 
 the story. 
 
 Upon reaching the spot. General Porter told me his secret in 
 the following startling words: "Captain Scrymser, on Monday 
 next, the great conspiracy is to be exposed!" I endeavored to 
 appear grateful for the information but, being ignorant of the 
 "Great Conspiracy" and its alarming exposure, was forced to ask 
 what conspiracy he had reference to? 
 
 General Porter replied, "Why, the conspiracy of Lincoln and 
 Stanton, by which they seized the Government of the United 
 States. All of the facts are to be made public." 
 
 I, apparently impressed, asked General Porter in what form 
 this great exposure was to be made? 
 
 "In 'McClellan's Own Story,' which is to be published next 
 Monday, containing the life and letters of General George B. Mc- 
 Clellan and many historical facts by Dr. W. C. Prime, by whom 
 the book is edited." 
 
 "And this," I said, "will expose the 'great conspiracy' — against 
 McClellan and the Government?" 
 
 "Yes," he replied. 
 
 I fear the General thought me lacking in appreciation of his 
 confidence. I merely said, "General, the public have handed in 
 their verdict long ago and you may rest assured that the 'great con- 
 spiracy,' to which you refer, will receive no attention whatsoever." 
 
 Such proved to be the case. 
 
 41 
 
Citizenry-Trained Soldiers 
 
 IN an article on "Wireless Telegraphy," I have quoted from Presi- 
 dent Wilson's message to Congress of December 8, 19 14, and his 
 statement that "We shall learn and profit by the lesson of every 
 experience and every new circumstance." A further paragraph in 
 the President's message is worthy of comment, viz.: 
 
 Let us remind ourselves, therefore, of the only thing we can do 
 or will do. We must depend in every time of national peril, in the 
 future as in the past, not upon a standing Army, nor yet upon a re- 
 serve Army, but upon a citizenry trained and accustomed to arms. 
 
 The italics are my own. 
 
 Can it be possible that such an eminent historian as President 
 Wilson is unaware of the facts in regard to our "citizen army" of 
 1861 ? How that Army, some thirty-four thousand strong, after a 
 drilling of two or three months, was panic-stricken at the Battle of 
 Bull Run and how it never stopped running some thirty-seven 
 miles in record time until it reached the fortifications on the out- 
 skirts of Washington, stampeded, as it was in the beginning of the 
 panic, by the Confederate Black Horse Cavalry, numbering less 
 than two hundred and fifty men. 
 
 42 
 
Mayor Hewitt in England 
 
 WHILE on a coaching trip in Derbyshire, England, our party- 
 stopped one day to see the celebrated country seat of Lord 
 Vernon, at Sudbury, When told whose estate it was, I was re- 
 minded of a story which Mr. Hewitt told me about Lord Vernon. 
 It seems that Mayor Hewitt was visiting "my lord" and that, in 
 honor of his distinguished guest, Lord Vernon had invited the gen- 
 try of the neighborhood to a banquet to meet our city's mayor. 
 During the dinner. Lord Vernon said, "Now, Mr. Hewitt, a man of 
 your wide experience, cultivation and travel would certainly have 
 a happier life in England than in America, don't you think so?" 
 Mr. Hewitt, who was a man of wonderful versatility and most 
 engaging conversational powers replied, "Your Lordship may re- 
 call the fact that there is a little jog of about ten acres on the 
 northern boundary of your estate. I have been examining the 
 County map and records and I find that that ten acres was once 
 owned by my grandfather. Now you ask me if I would not find 
 a home in England more congenial than one in America? My 
 answer, my Lord, is that I presume that this is the first time a 
 Hewitt ever had the honor of being invited to your lordship's 
 table." 
 
 43 
 
"English as She is Spoke' 
 
 DURING the coaching trip in England, alluded to in the previous 
 story, one of the four horses fell, because of the excessive heat. 
 I at once went to a neighboring farmhouse and asked an English 
 woman in charge if she would kindly let me have a pail of water. 
 
 "A pail, is it?" she said. 
 
 "Yes, a pail," I replied. 
 
 "We have no pail," she answered. 
 
 When I went to the well she discovered my predicament and 
 screamed, "Oh, a bucket is it, you want?" and this was quickly 
 furnished. 
 
 Upon our return to London, we were dining with some 
 English friends and the incident was mentioned. All of the Eng- 
 lish people at the table loyally stood by their countrywoman and 
 claimed that the woman was perfectly right, that there was no 
 such thing as a pail in England. 
 
 Mrs. Scrymser mildly asked whether the Mother Goose 
 Stories were not of English origin? Our good English friends all 
 replied in the affirmative, and then Mrs. Scrymser asked how they 
 accounted for the fact that "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch 
 a pail of water?" 
 
 44 
 
Hon. Roscoe Conkling 
 
 ON an ocean voyage I once had as fellow passengers the Hon. 
 Abram S. Hewitt and the Hon. Roscoe Conkling. Senator 
 Conkhng was a man of striking appearance and rather given to a just 
 appreciation of himself. We three were walking the deck when 
 Mr. Hewitt turned to me and said, "Scrymser, how tall are you?" 
 I replied, "Something over six feet." And, "Mr. Senator," said 
 Mr. Hewitt, turning to Conkling, "how tall are you?" To which 
 query the Senator replied in his own majestic way, "I do not know, 
 sir." Mr. Hewitt, with a twinkle in his eye, turned to me and 
 said, "Scrymser, that is good, Roscoe doesn't know what a big 
 man he is," whereupon, Conkling raised his hat, and said, "Mr. 
 Mayor, I owe you one." 
 
 45 
 
Public Schools in England 
 
 I LIVED in London in 1872 and 1873, when Mr. Gladstone was 
 Prime Minister. 
 
 I have never heard a pubhc official more severely denounced 
 and criticized than was Mr. Gladstone, both because of his ex- 
 tension of the franchise and his work in behalf of the extension of 
 the school system. 
 
 I remember that on one occasion I was on a coaching trip, my 
 host being a titled English gentleman. In crossing Chelsea Bridge, 
 a small boy ran in front of the coach and the wheels crushed the 
 boy's felt hat, which had been knocked off. I remarked to my 
 host that running over the hat could have been avoided and was 
 astounded when he replied, "Damn him, I wish his head had been 
 in it." Mention is made of this incident to show the feeling at 
 that time the aristocracy held towards the lower classes. 
 
 There was not one man in ten in the agricultural districts of 
 England who could read or write. I ascertained this fact on 
 another coaching trip of iioo miles through the most attractive 
 part of England, in the summer of 1884. The illiteracy every- 
 where was deplorable. At the time, I was endeavoring to establish 
 in London what is known in New York as the American District 
 Telegraph Service, and it was absolutely impossible to secure a 
 sufficient number of intelligent boys to start a single office in Lon- 
 don. 
 
 Discharged, rheumatic soldiers were the only messengers 
 available and very few of that kind could be had. 
 
 Twenty years later some friends went to London for the pur- 
 pose of organizing a company on the lines of the American Dis- 
 trict Telegraph. The first week they had applications from over 
 six thousand intelligent, capable boys, an eloquent testimony of 
 the value of Mr. Gladstone's School Bill of 1872 and 1873. 
 
 The growth of intelligence had been so complete that the 
 English people failed to realize the splendid results of Mr. Glad- 
 
 46 
 
stone's policy, and I found that it required some definite statement 
 like the foregoing to prove to them that Mr. Gladstone's liberal 
 policies, of extension of the suffrage and the establishment of 
 schools, had achieved such remarkable results. These measures 
 probably saved England from a revolution. 
 
 47 
 
Interview with Baron De Rothschild 
 
 I HAD a most interesting experience in Paris in the winter of 1872, 
 the month of January. 
 
 It was my purpose to lay before the French Government a 
 Telegraph enterprise in which Messrs. August Belmont, Levi P. 
 Morton, J. Pierpont Morgan and other prominent bankers were 
 interested. 
 
 I was the bearer of a letter of introduction from Mr. Belmont 
 to Baron Alphonse De Rothschild, the principal representative of 
 the Rothschild house in Paris. 
 
 Upon my arrival in Paris, I consulted some of my influential 
 friends as to when I should present the letter introducing me to 
 the Baron, and I remarked that I expected to get an introduction 
 from Baron De Rothschild to M. Leon Sey, then Minister of the 
 Interior. My friends all laughed at my hopes and were unanimous 
 in their opinion that I would not be successful, each one informing 
 me that it was a well-known fact that the House of Rothschild 
 never gave letters of introduction to any one. 
 
 I was sanguine of success, however, — so sanguine that I made 
 a bet of a dinner for six with Walter Burns, J. Pierpont Morgan's 
 brother-in-law, that I would obtain such a letter of introduction, 
 notwithstanding my total lack of experience in such matters. 
 
 As a beginning, I enclosed my letter of introduction to the 
 Baron with a polite note, asking for the honor of an interview at 
 such a time as it would be convenient for him to see me. In due 
 course, I received a note from the Baron's secretary, appointing a 
 time for the interview — at the De Rothschild banking house in 
 the Rue Taitvout, 19. (Although it is over forty years ago, I re- 
 member the number well.) At the appointed hour I went up the 
 stairway of the banking house with a good deal of nervousness and 
 trepidation. At the head of the stairway I was met by Baron De 
 Rothschild's private secretary, who courteously explained to me 
 that because of an unexpected engagement the Baron would not 
 
 48 
 
be able to receive me until the following day. I have often 
 thought that this postponement was proposed merely to give his 
 secretary an opportunity to size me up and to determine whether 
 the meeting would be agreeable to the Baron. Next day, at the 
 hour named, I again mounted the stairway with fear and trembling 
 and was immediately passed into the banking room and there met 
 the famous Baron De Rothschild. The Baron received me in a 
 most charming and friendly manner and his reception put me at 
 my ease at once. 
 
 He offered me a cigarette and suggested that we should pull 
 our chairs before the open fire and take up "that business." For- 
 tunately, I had a Loyal Legion button in the lapel of my coat 
 which attracted the Baron's attention and required a lengthy ex- 
 planation from me as to what the button was, and a detailed ac- 
 count of my experiences in the Civil War. This broke the ice. 
 The Baron was particularly anxious to secure from me any infor- 
 mation which I could give hirn as to the military career of the 
 Compte de Paris, and the Duke de Chartres, both of whom, it will 
 be remembered, accompanied their uncle. Prince de Joinville, 
 during our Civil War, all three serving on the staff of General Mc- 
 Clellan, in 1861 and 1862. 
 
 It so happened that I had seen much of these gallant gentle- 
 men during that time, while an Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Gen- 
 eral "Baldy" Smith. General Smith's headquarters were, while 
 at the front, five miles west of Chain Bridge and about twelve 
 miles from Washington. General Smith would often organize 
 foraging expeditions into the enemy's country, more for practice 
 than forage, and whenever there was a likelihood of a skirmish, the 
 General would invite the French Princes to join us. I well re- 
 member on one occasion, with three separate companies of cavalry, 
 we made a raid on a Confederate picket reserve on Flint Hill near 
 Fairfax Court House. We left headquarters at two o'clock in the 
 morning and before daylight made a dash on the house occupied 
 by the Confederate pickets. I had command of a company of 
 cavalry and was accompanied by the Compte de Paris. We dis- 
 mounted a short distance from the house and at a given signal 
 made a dash and, by closing in well up to the house, with a few 
 sharpshooters about one hundred paces away, the Confederate 
 
 49 
 
inmates could not shoot from the windows above without being 
 picked off by our sharpshooters. On our demand, the Confeder- 
 ates dropped their rifles from the second story windows and came 
 down unarmed and surrendered, but not until an Irish Corporal, 
 who becoming tired of waiting, broke in the front door with a big 
 stone. Our little attack resulted in the capture of twenty-two 
 Confederate soldiers, all armed with Colt's revolving rifles. 
 
 Baron De Rothschild was intensely interested in all that I 
 could tell him about the French Princes, and particularly in regard 
 to their behavior at the Battle of Williamsburg, the day on which 
 Yorktown was evacuated. On this occasion the Compte de Paris 
 was with us all day and displayed his usual gallantry, even re- 
 marking to me that he would like very much to be wounded. 
 There was a drenching rain that night and I arranged to have the 
 Compte bivouac with me. I built a "lean-to" of rails against a 
 rail fence and made a comfortable bed of corn shocks and there we 
 slept together, under the same blanket, within one hundred yards 
 of the picket line. Instances of this sort so interested the Baron 
 that he never referred to "that business," and it took me no less 
 than three afternoons in succession to tell him all that I knew 
 about the French Princes. 
 
 I was, naturally, very anxious to discuss business with the 
 Baron, but I realized that it would not be politic to force the sub- 
 ject until the Baron himself introduced it. My hotel bill was run- 
 ning up at the rate of six dollars per day, and I began to feel 
 doubtful in regard to that dinner, that is, who should pay for it. 
 Finally, at the close of a long afternoon's talk, the Baron suddenly 
 exclaimed, "Oh, Sir, I owe you an apology, I forgot all about that 
 business. As you go downstairs you ask my secretary for that 
 letter ctf introduction to M. Leon Sey." 
 
 It is needless to note that we had our dinner and that I did 
 not pay for it ! At the dinner it was announced that this was the 
 first instance a De Rothschild letter of introduction was ever 
 known in Paris. 
 
 50 
 
The Minister of the Interior 
 
 IN due course I received notice of an appointment with the 
 Minister of the Interior, M. Leon Sey. When the time for the 
 interview came I found that His Excellency had learned about me 
 from the Baron De Rothschild, and the instant my card was pre- 
 sented the doors were thrown open to me and I was received after 
 the manner of a royal visitor. 
 
 The interview resulted in the authorization of a Concession 
 for the installation of a news printing service which was to be 
 issued to parties whom I represented, subject to such regulations 
 as the authorities deemed necessary. I retained an expert lawyer 
 who drew up what I considered to be a brief and proper form of 
 concession. This I submitted to Minister Leon Sey who informed 
 me it that would have to take the regular course through the de- 
 partments for the consideration of each. After five long months of 
 patient waiting, I was officially informed that the Concession, 
 with amendments, was subject to my acceptance. Imagine my 
 astonishment when I found that the Concession contained a re- 
 quirement by the Chief of the Paris Police, that "La Machines" 
 should be installed in metallic cases and the keys to those cases 
 should be kept in the pockets of a "functionary" whose duty it 
 would be to examine the printed tapes daily to see that nothing 
 immoral or detrimental to the public good was printed! It was 
 further stipulated that "La Machine" was not to work until the 
 "functionary" had issued a certificate certifying to the fact that 
 nothing detrimental to the public good had appeared on the printed 
 tape the previous day. 
 
 The Bishop of Paris approved of the requirements of the Chief 
 of Police and added that he disapproved of the project itself, as he 
 thought it would lead to speculation and consequent danger to the 
 morals of the banking fraternity of Paris ! 
 
 The impossibility of operating a news printing service on these 
 conditions will be apparent, and the trouble was further intensified, 
 
 51 
 
a few days later, by a change of the entire government and a con- 
 sequent ousting of the Minister of the Interior, all of which necessi- 
 tated going over the whole scheme again and, in consequence, it 
 was abandoned. 
 
 In many such negotiations with foreign countries much time 
 is lost by changes in government; such was the case in Japan where, 
 after several long interviews with the then Prime Minister Count 
 Okuma, a contract was concluded and, to my dismay, the following 
 day there was a change of government and the whole scheme was 
 killed. 
 
 It was a common saying among my friends in Paris, that there 
 would be a change of government within forty-eight hoiurs of my 
 arrival there. 
 
 52 
 
A Hired Coach and Livery in the City of Mexico 
 
 DURING my first visit to the City of Mexico, in the winter of 
 1880, the Paseo, between the City of Mexico and the Castle of 
 Chapultepec, was a gay scene in the mornings. Here the Mexicans 
 of the wealthier class could be seen taking their morning ride on 
 beautiful, prancing horses. The riders were dressed in black 
 velvet, their trousers striped with silver buttons. Elaborate silver 
 spurs dangled at their heels and on their heads were broad som- 
 breros with silver embroidery and cords. Each rider was mounted 
 on an elaborately silver embroidered saddle, and attached to the 
 saddle, hanging over the horse's back, was a tiger skin. The scene 
 was certainly an animated one. There would be fifty or more 
 riders so equipped and these riders, with horses champing at their 
 silver bits, presented a fascinating sight. 
 
 There was but one coach or carriage at that time for hire in the 
 City of Mexico. It was of the type used for funerals in this coun- 
 try, and belonged to a cobbler. The cobbler's charge for his coach, 
 and a fairly good team of horses and driver, was one dollar silver 
 per hour. The coachman was attired in a jacket, somewhat 
 ragged at the elbows, but mounted, nevertheless, with silver but- 
 tons, and so short that there was an interval of about six inches of 
 shirt between jacket and trousers. I found it necessary on a cer- 
 tain day to hire this coach, as Mrs. Scrymser had several visits to 
 make. Inasmuch as these visits were of a ceremonial nature, I 
 urged the proprietor to equip his driver with a proper livery for the 
 occasion. At the appointed hour my chartered coach appeared 
 at the hotel. Imagine our surprise when we found that it had been 
 followed by a large crowd, which patiently waited to see who was 
 to occupy the vehicle. From our hotel window we observed two 
 men on the box. We took in the "livery" at a glance. The driver 
 and the groom were both barefooted but, otherwise, were undoubt- 
 edly arrayed for the occasion. On their heads were the famous 
 Mexican sombreros, and they were clothed in gorgeous claret- 
 
 53 
 
colored liveries, adorned with a liberal amount of gold braid on 
 sleeves and collars. We made our departure, the crowd at the 
 hotel staring at us in awe-struck silence. 
 
 That evening we visited the circus and not until then did I 
 realize the reason for the crowd at the hotel, so intent upon seeing 
 who were to be the occupants of the coach. The proprietor of the 
 coach had, it seems, in an effort to please me, hired from the circus 
 the liveries worn by the ringmasters' grooms. These gorgeous out- 
 fits were naturally known to all the boys in Mexico, who evidently 
 mistook my wife and self for newly arrived bareback circus riders 
 on the way to the circus. This experience taught me the lesson to 
 take what you can get and to try no experiment in a foreign 
 country. 
 
 54 
 
Namesakes 
 
 WHEN Mr. Frank Thomson, President of the Pennsylvania 
 Raikoad, heard that Mr. Morgan was planning a trip to 
 Washington, for an interview with President Cleveland, he 
 straightway offered Mr. Morgan the use of his private car and his 
 celebrated colored cook. The courtesy was accepted and Mr. 
 Morgan asked two of his friends to accompany him. I was one 
 of the number. 
 
 When we entered the car, we found an open fire and every 
 appearance of comfort, all of which proved most attractive, 
 especially so to Mr. Morgan, who was tired and hungry. Mr. 
 Morgan astonished us by disclosing the fact that he had had 
 nothing to eat or drink in the past twenty-four hoiurs, with the 
 exception of a half cup of coffee. He explained that "this morn- 
 ing" a party of Wall Street men had called him from the break- 
 fast table and that, until now, he had had no time to either eat 
 or drink ! 
 
 A capital dinner was quickly served and our host was much 
 refreshed. After dinner, for the entertainment of Mr. Bacon 
 and myself, Mr. Morgan read some begging letters which he had 
 hastily put in his pocket on leaving his office. They were all 
 in the same vein but I recall one in particular, from a clergyman 
 in Oregon. The letter was addressed to "Hon. John Pierpont 
 Morgan," and read somewhat as follows: 
 
 Last week my wife gave birth to three boys and I have named 
 them John, Pierpont and Morgan. Can you help me in this unex- 
 pected responsibility? 
 
 It was remarked that if Mr. Morgan had had another name there 
 certainly would have been another boy. 
 
 55 
 
J. p. Morgan and President Cleveland's Anti- 
 Bond Issue 
 
 JPIERPONT MORGAN'S action in what is known as the 
 • "Cleveland Anti-Bond Issue" is certainly worth recording. 
 It will be remembered that during Mr. Cleveland's second ad- 
 ministration the gold reserve in the United States Treasury had 
 fallen to $40,000,000, and that gold was going out of the Treasury 
 at the rate of $2,000,000 a day. President Cleveland and the 
 Senate had come to a deadlock and there was every prospect of 
 the financial system of the United States being changed to a 
 Silver basis. 
 
 At this crisis, I was invited by Mr. Morgan to accompany 
 him to Washington, as described in the previous article. Mr. 
 Morgan told me that President Cleveland had both written and 
 telegraphed to him that he would refuse to see him upon financial 
 matters should he come to Washington. Mr. Morgan was not 
 deterred, however, and determined to go to Washington, inspired, 
 as he was, with the highest patriotic motives. 
 
 Upon his arrival at Washington Mr. Morgan went to the 
 White House and was there received by the President. A few 
 hours later, Mr. Morgan described his interview to me. When 
 Mr. Morgan was announced, the President stalked forth from his 
 private office, as Mr. Morgan described it, with both hands 
 thrust into his trousers pockets, apparently disinclined to greet 
 Mr. Morgan in a friendly spirit. 
 
 The President's first remark was: "Mr. Morgan, I have 
 written and telegraphed to you that I would not see you in ref- 
 erence to any Government financial matters. The Senate has 
 placed me in a false position before the country and I am deter- 
 mined that the people shall know that the Senate is to blame." 
 To this statement Mr. Morgan replied to the effect that the 
 country was on the verge of the greatest financial panic that the 
 
 56 
 
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world had ever witnessed and that unless the outflow of gold was 
 checked the credit of the Government would be destroyed. 
 
 At this point, Richard Olney, then Attorney-General, entered 
 the room and Mr. Morgan reminded him of the fact that in 1861 
 the United States Government had authorized the Secretary of 
 the Treasury to buy gold to meet its gold interest and Mr. Morgan 
 asked Mr. Olney whether that Act was still in force. Mr. Olney 
 declared that it was, whereupon Mr. Morgan turned to the 
 President and said: "Mr. President, I do not ask you to sell bonds 
 but I propose to sell you ^100,000,000 in gold." At this, Mr. 
 Cleveland's manner immediately changed and, within half an 
 hour, a contract had been drawn up whereby the United States 
 Treasmy obtained $60,000,000 in gold through a syndicate 
 formed by Mr. Morgan. 
 
 I repeat, Mr. Morgan's action at this time is well worth 
 recording. His sterling patriotism has been evidenced many 
 times. 
 
 57 
 
A Dinner in Honor of General Scott and Admiral 
 
 Farragut 
 
 ONE afternoon at the Atheneum Club, shortly after the close 
 of the war in 1865, William T. Blodgett, then President of the 
 Club, told a number of us younger members of a dinner which 
 he was to give at his house, in honor of General Scott and Admiral 
 Farragut, one, the first Lieutenant-General of the United States 
 Army and the other, the first Admiral of the United States Navy. 
 Mr. Blodgett gave us all a very cordial invitation to "drop in" 
 after dinner and play whist with his distinguished guests. 
 
 Mr. Blodgett's house was on 25th Street, near Broadway 
 and adjoined Trinity Chapel. Mr. Blodgett spared no trouble 
 to make the dinner a memorable one. In the alcove in the 
 dining room, there was placed Church's beautiful picttu-e of the 
 "Heart of the Andes" and in front of the picture was a bank of 
 palms. I was told that when the dinner was about finished 
 the lights were turned down and a curtain raised showing this 
 beautiful landscape. And Mr. Blodgett also told us, when we 
 arrived, that Admiral Farragut was so enthusiastic over the 
 picture that he left the table and danced a sailors' hornpipe to 
 the delight of the guests. 
 
 Forty years after, I had the pleasure of dining in this same 
 house, as the guest of the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix and his family. 
 The company at dinner were much interested in my account of 
 Mr. Blodgett's dinner given in honor of General Scott and 
 Admiral Farragut so long ago. 
 
 After relating many incidents of that dinner, including the 
 sailors' hornpipe, I mentioned something that had impressed me 
 that night, viz., the fact that the tobacco smoke had so quickly 
 vanished from the dining room, despite the large number who 
 were smoking, and that Mr. Blodgett had explained to me that 
 there was a ventilating tube from the center-piece over the 
 chandelier, running from the dining room chimney. 
 
 "That," said Dr. Dix, "accounts for the fact that we have 
 found it so difiicult to keep this room warm." 
 
 58 
 
CHAPEL AT WEST POINT 
 
West Point 
 
 WE were visiting in the neighborhood in November, 19 14, 
 and one Sunday morning Mrs. Scrymser and I enjoyed the 
 very great pleasm-e of attending the morning service in the West 
 Point Chapel, by invitation of the Superintendent, Colonel 
 Townsley. 
 
 The Chapel has been referred to as "the gem spot of Ameri- 
 can architecture." It is situated on a hill and commands a 
 grand view of the Highlands and likewise of the Hudson River. 
 It is built of stone and its simplicity and Gothic grace are very 
 impressive. Combined with the beauty of the Chapel and its 
 historical surroundings, the service itself is one of rare attractive- 
 ness. The corps of Cadets, some six hundred strong, in their 
 handsome uniforms, eighty of whom comprise the choir, to- 
 gether with a perfect organ, superbly played, the many war- 
 worn battle flags hung from the ceiling, and the artistic stained 
 glass window in the chancel, bearing the words "Duty, Honor, 
 Country," all contributed to make the service one of rare fascina- 
 tion and one which we shall never forget. It aroused in us a 
 joyous spirit of patriotism, such as we never before experienced. 
 
 I have attended services in most of the great cathedrals 
 abroad, but none affected me as did this service in the chapel 
 of our United States Military Academy. 
 
 After the service, the organist delighted us with an organ 
 recital which could not be surpassed anywhere. In connection 
 with this fine toned organ, I was surprised to learn that it had 
 not been entirely completed, and that six thousand dollars was 
 still required to make it as it should be. It is unlikely that Con- 
 gress will ever appropriate the money needed so here is an excellent 
 opportunity for any one interested to give, as a memorial, or 
 otherwise. The organ must have an artistic influence over the 
 lives of the future ofiicers of the Army of our country and it is 
 to be hoped that its early completion is not far off. I was sur- 
 
 59 
 
prised when I was told that the salary of the organist, as author- 
 ized by Congress, was only twelve hundred dollars a year. I 
 was informed, however, that, as the organist loves his organ and 
 West Point, he has recently refused several offers of a salary 
 three times as large from churches in New York and elsewhere. 
 
 We thoroughly enjoyed our talks with Col. Townsley. One 
 suggestion which the Colonel made impressed me particularly 
 and that was, that an equestrian statue of General Washington, 
 if placed on the Parade Ground, would exert a patriotic influence 
 that would be ideal for good. It will be recalled that General 
 Washington, in association with General Alexander Hamilton and 
 General Henry Knox were the prime movers in causing the West 
 Point Military Academy to be founded, and consequently. Colonel 
 Townsley's suggestion was most appropriate, for it is certainly 
 fitting that the most prominent character of the three named 
 should be thus memorialized. 
 
 Colonel Townsley spoke of his admiration of the Washington 
 bronze statue now in Union Square, New York, and said that 
 a duplicate of that statue would be suitable in every way for 
 West Point. There is a good prospect that the Washington 
 statue, as proposed by Col. Townsley, will be placed on the Parade 
 Ground at an early date, provided the consent of the War Depart- 
 ment in Washington and likewise of the New York City officials 
 can be obtained. 
 
 All Americans should see and know West Point. There is 
 a singular charm about the whole place and I cannot close this 
 account of my experience there without allusion to the rare 
 esprit de corps of cadets and graduates. There is a certain friendly 
 intercourse and a loyal affection for one another which clings 
 to the cadets as long as life lasts. 
 
 As a proof of this, I may relate an incident which occurred 
 at the Battle of Antietam. It will be remembered that all of 
 our heroes of the Civil War were closely identified with West 
 Point and this incident concerns two of them. It was during a 
 flag of truce, that General William F. Smith, to whom I have 
 frequently referred, sent the following message to his old class- 
 mate. General Robert B. Lee: 
 
 "Baldy sends his love to Bob." 
 
 60 
 
WASHINGTON STATUE 
 
Thus emphasizing the fact that West Point friendships are main- 
 tained on the field of battle. 
 
 My visit to the Chapel was one of such delight that I feel 
 I must pubUsh a photograph of the edifice and this I do on the 
 preceding page. 
 
 It is appropriate, too, that I should pubhsh the accompanying 
 picture of the Washington Statue, in connection with this com- 
 ment on my visit to West Point. 
 
 Note by Author. — Just as this book goes to press, I am glad to be able 
 to announce that all arrangements have been concluded for the duplication 
 of the Washington bronze statue, now in Union Square, New York, and the 
 erection of the same on the Parade Ground at West Point. It is expected 
 that this Washington statue will be unveiled at West Point during the coming 
 Summer. 
 
 6i 
 
The Use of "Influence'* 
 
 IN the early days of my telegraph career, with so much depending 
 upon my personal efforts, I often felt that possibly I lacked 
 the courage of my convictions for I was frequently led to rely 
 upon "influential" friends to do what, in time, I found — ^if I 
 wanted it well done — I had to do myself. 
 
 In this connection, I am reminded of a personal friend, 
 who came to me for advice during the war. He was a fellow 
 member of the Atheneum Club and was in financial difficulties. 
 He confided to me that he owed about $800 and he saw no pros- 
 pect of being able to pay it. I advised him to enUst in the Army, 
 which he did, and thereby secured a bounty of the very amount 
 ($800). This he sent to me and with it I paid his debts. 
 
 When the war was over, he of course had saved nothing of 
 his soldier's pay. On my advice he drew up an application for 
 a position in the Custom-House and I personally secured the 
 written endorsement of many influential men. The application 
 was regularly filed in the Collector's Office, of the Custom-House. 
 Day after day he would come to my office and complain that 
 he had heard nothing from his application. At length I, too, 
 became impatient and decided to call personally upon the Col- 
 lector. I cannot recall what I said in behalf of my friend but, 
 when I had finished my appeal, the Collector, Hon. Preston 
 King, arose from his desk and said: "Sir, your friend shall have 
 a $1,200 position by noon tomorrow; you come here and I will 
 give the order." The Collector was an entire stranger to me and 
 I certainly appreciated his kindness when, at noon, the following 
 day, he handed me the promised appointment for my friend. 
 
 On another occasion. General Alexander Webb applied for 
 the appointment as President of the College of the City of New 
 York. An application was duly prepared and endorsed by Peter 
 Cooper, Cyrus W. Field, Moses Taylor, Wilson G. Hunt and 
 others of like prominence. In the course of time. General Webb 
 
 62 
 
informed me that he had received the appointment adding, 
 greatly to my astonishment, that he was not going to accept it. 
 "Why not," I asked. "Why," said he, "because they expect 
 me to teach." I repUed, "General, you have too much West 
 Point conscience. You accept that Presidency even if they ask 
 you to black boots and when you are President you can arrange 
 to have others do those odd jobs, instead of yourself." General 
 Webb served as President of the College of the City of New 
 York for nearly forty years, with much credit to himself and im- 
 mense benefit to many of the yotmg men who were students under 
 him. 
 
 After all, if one wants a thing done well and done quickly, 
 he must do it himself. "Influence" is, at times, most effective 
 but personal effort is far more so. 
 
 63 
 
Cuban Independence 
 
 500N after the Civil War there was a movement started both 
 in the United States and Spain for the purpose of securing the 
 freedom and independence of Cuba and Porto Rico. Actively 
 engaged in this scheme were General Butler, then a member of 
 the House of Representatives, General Sickles, United States 
 Minister to Spain, and General Prim, a prominent officer of the 
 Spanish Army, who had served with Maximilian in Mexico. 
 
 The plan, as I remember it, was to secure instructions, through 
 our State Department, for General Sickles (our Minister to Spain) 
 to demand, in the name of the United States Government, that 
 Spain should emancipate its slaves in Cuba and Porto Rico and, 
 simultaneously with this demand. General Butler was to intro- 
 duce a resolution in Congress, recognizing the Cubans as bel- 
 ligerents. 
 
 It was likewise planned that a revolution should occur in 
 Madrid, at the same time, to be led by General Prim. General 
 Prim, while en route from Mexico to Spain, in 1862, had stopped 
 in Virginia, where he visited the Army of the Potomac and was 
 the guest of General "Baldy" Smith, who tendered him a review, 
 followed by a Headquarters dinner. Prominent officials of the 
 Army were invited to meet General Prim and, in consequence, 
 he became well known in the United States. 
 
 The financing of the scheme for Cuban independence was 
 arranged in this way: there was to be an issue of one hundred mil- 
 lion dollars of seven per cent gold bonds, the seven per cent 
 interest to be guaranteed by the United States Government, 
 the latter taking possession of the Cuban Custom-House — to 
 insure the safety of the guarantee; the one hundred millions of 
 dollars was to be paid to Spain upon condition that Cuba should 
 be declared free and independent. The whole scheme was a 
 big one and such schemes, planned on conditions so wide apart, 
 must of necessity fail. 
 
 64 
 
General Sickles' demand for the emancipation of the Cuban 
 slaves had very much the same effect on the Spanish people, 
 who were a unit in opposition, as the firing on Fort Sumter had 
 on our people of the North. The Spanish Government learned 
 of General Prim's intended leadership in the revolution and he 
 was straightway assassinated. 
 
 General "Baldy" Smith (who was an associate with me in 
 the West India cable enterprise) was a go-between for the Cuban 
 rebel leaders in Washington and the plotting Spanish officials 
 in Madrid, which he frequently visited, in connection with our 
 Cuban-Porto Rico cable enterprise. 
 
 At the time of General Sickles' demand upon Spain, Smith 
 was in Madrid. I received a telegram from hirn, asking me to 
 see General Butler who, it was planned, was to introduce the 
 resolution in Congress recognizing the independence of Cuba. 
 
 I knew nothing of the scheme but, in response to General 
 Smith's request, I went on to Washington to see General Butler. 
 I showed him my code message from General Smith, in Madrid, 
 the closing paragraph of which was "Tell General Butler there 
 is ducats in it." This sentence seemed to catch his attention 
 at once and he said to me, "Captain, what does that mean?" 
 I, laughingly rephed, "General, that is the Spanish for spoons." 
 "All right," he said, "meet me at* the Astor House, New York, 
 tomorrow afternoon at four o'clock." I did so and after an hoiu-'s 
 conference with him he confided to me that the scheme had failed 
 and that Sickles had blundered by delaying the American demand. 
 "Here we are," he said, "at the end of December, on the verge 
 of the holidays, Congress will adjourn in a few days and nothing 
 can be done until it reopens the middle of January; by that time 
 the scheme will have grown cold. Please cable General Smith 
 that nothing can be done at present." 
 
 65 
 
Field Marshal Oyama 
 
 IN the winter of 1898 I visited Japan. My stay there was a 
 most delightful one and I was privileged to meet many of Japan's 
 leading men. They were all extremely hospitable and com'teous. 
 I shall never forget the many pleasant interviews I had with 
 Field Marshal Oyama, with whom it was my good fortune to 
 become quite intimate. The Field Marshal was a very intelligent 
 man and his stories of Japan's progress were exceedingly inter- 
 esting. We exchanged "war" experiences. 
 
 In discussing the capture of Port Arthm* in the war between 
 Japan and China, in 1894-5, the Field Marshal told me that 
 Japan's Bureau of Information had misled him at that time. 
 The Bureau had assiu^ed him that the Chinese army was strong 
 and efficient, but that the Chinese navy was weak, but experience 
 proved that it was just the other way and China's navy was 
 strong while its army was weak. "Had I known these facts," 
 added the Field Marshal, "I would have marched on Pekin 
 and taken it, instead of Port Arthur." 
 
 If Japan had done so there would have been another story 
 to tell. This lack of information indicates what great improve- 
 ment has been made in Japan in recent years. 
 
 The adjoining illustration is an enlargement of a picture sent 
 to me by Field Marshal Oyama, representing the last grand review 
 of the triumphant Japanese army, numbering one hundred thou- 
 sand men, at the close of the Russian- Japanese War. The Empe- 
 ror of Japan accompanied by Field Marshal Oyama will be seen 
 in the Imperial carriage, at the head of the reviewing party. 
 
 66 
 
The History of Three Cable Companies 
 
 1 
 
 International Ocean Telegraph Company 
 
 THE close of the Civil War found many a soldier without means 
 of livelihood and undecided as to a life's occupation. I was one 
 of them. Upon my return from the war, in the spring of 1865, 
 I naturally gave the matter much earnest consideration. I was 
 living at the time at Riverdale, in Westchester County, New York. 
 
 Several weeks passed by and no decision was made. I knew 
 that it was necessary that a decision should be made — and be 
 made soon — and finally determined to seek inspiration in the 
 mountains of western Massachusetts and, with my friend, Mr. 
 Alfred Pell, planned a tramping tour through that beautiful 
 country. 
 
 On the last Monday in May, in 1865, Mr. Pell and I left 
 Riverdale on our journey in quest of inspiration. We walked 
 to the Century House near the old Fordham Bridge — there plan- 
 ning to take the Harlem River boat, the "Water Lily," to Harlem. 
 From Harlem we piuposed taking the train to Copake and, from 
 the latter place, to start on our long walk over Mount Washington, 
 in Berkshire County, thence on to Vermont. 
 
 "God moves in a mysterious way His Wonders to perform." 
 The "Water Lily" had broken down and was not to make her 
 usual trip that day! This mishap was a keen disappointment 
 to both of us and, of course, necessitated a change in our plans. 
 After a brief conference it was decided to go "into camp" on the 
 river bank and await the repairs to the damaged "Water Lily." 
 I owe a debt of gratitude to the "Water Lily" for breaking down 
 that Monday morning in May, 1865, for there, on the banks of 
 the Harlem, came the inspiration and the decision was made. 
 And it all came about through a simple question. 
 
 67 
 
Mr. Pell, it seems, was the owner of ten shares of the original 
 Atlantic Cable Company's stock and in the course of conversa- 
 tion, told me of a circular which he had received from that Com- 
 pany offering to issue to him twenty new shares in lieu of his orig- 
 inal holding, provided that he would subscribe for ten more. 
 Mr. Pell was undecided what to do and he asked my advice. 
 I promptly advised him to accept the offer, for I felt that it was 
 only a question of time when the whole world would be con- 
 nected by cables. To support my advice, I mentioned the fact 
 that I had often thought a cable connecting the United States 
 with Cuba and the West Indies would be a paying undertaking, 
 provided one company could secure the absolute control for the 
 establishment of such a cable line. 
 
 The mention of an "absolute control" suggested to Mr. Pell 
 a recent visit he had made to Havana, in the previous winter, 
 and he spoke of an influential concern in that city which had 
 actually secured the exclusive right for fishing in Spanish waters, 
 within fifty miles of Havana, and, Mr. Pell observed casually, 
 that if a monopoly could be obtained for fishing it would seem 
 to be a simple matter to obtain a monopoly for operating cables 
 within Spanish jurisdiction. 
 
 Mr. Pell's simple question, asking for my advice as to cable 
 shares, and his reference to the Havana fishing monopoly, com- 
 bined possibly with the waters of the Harlem River lying at our 
 feet, furnished the inspiration, and the "Water Lily" and the 
 tramp through the Berkshires were forgotten or rather abandoned. 
 After Mr. Pell had finished speaking, I jumped to my feet, put 
 on my knapsack and started to go. Mr. Pell looked up and, in 
 surprise, asked where I was going. My reply was both quick 
 and decisive, "I am going for that monopoly." Thus began 
 my entry into the Cable world. Mr. Pell and I decided to start 
 for New York immediately and we were there within two hours. 
 We straightway visited the offices of Messrs. Grinnell, Mintum 
 & Company, one of the most prominent New York fij-ms engaged 
 in the West Indies trade. We were received very kindly and 
 courteously by Mr. Robert B. Minturn, who listened attentively 
 to my enthusiastic portrayal of the Florida-Cuba-West Indies 
 Cable scheme. Mr. Minturn promised to take the matter under 
 
 68 
 

 "i^ 
 
consideration and said that he would consult some of his friends 
 and be able to give a definite answer, as to what he would do, the 
 following day at noon. 
 
 Promptly at noon, the next day, I returned to Mr. Minturn's 
 office. Mr. Mintiun informed me that he had consulted with 
 Moses Taylor, one of the great West India merchants at that 
 time, and that they both thought the scheme, which I had sug- 
 gested, was one of much merit. Mr. Minturn added, however, 
 that both he and Mr. Taylor had grave doubts as to its success. 
 Despite the latter discouragement, they each agreed to take a 
 third interest in the proposed cable project, offering the remaining 
 third to Mr. Pell and me, upon the understanding that Mr. Pell 
 and I were to do all the work and that neither Mr. Minturn nor 
 Mr. Taylor were to be mentioned in the matter. It seems they 
 did not wish their names associated, in any way, with a failure! 
 They were willing, nevertheless, to finance the enterprise and 
 pay all the expenses and cost of establishment and they must 
 have had, in consequence, a far greater faith in the project than 
 they were then willing to admit. We accepted the very generous 
 offer and started actively in pursuit of the necessary concessions. 
 
 That night I took the train for Washington, hoping to obtain 
 letters of recommendation and introduction from the Department 
 of State to the American Consul in Havana and, through the 
 latter, reach the Spanish Governor-General of Cuba. 
 
 Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, was just recovering 
 from an attempted assassination, part of the conspiracy which 
 led to the death of President I^incoln. Secretary Seward, of 
 course, could not see me, and the State Department in charge 
 of Mr. Henry, the Chief Clerk, declined to assist me. Fortunately, 
 I had a personal friend who was the Secretary of the British 
 Legation and I applied to him, asking him to secure for me a 
 letter from Sir Frederick W. A. Bruce, the British Ambassador 
 to the United States, introducing me to Captain-General Concha 
 of Cuba. This letter I obtained Wednesday afternoon and on 
 the following Saturday, I sailed for Havana, fortified with letters 
 of introduction, not only to the Captain-General, but from Grin- 
 nell; Minturn & Company, New York, to the prominent com- 
 mercial houses in Havana. Through the influence of the latter, 
 
 69 
 
I obtained an interview with the Captain-General within forty- 
 eight hours of my arrival in Cuba. His Excellency received me 
 most courteously and promised to do everything in his power to 
 aid me in my cable undertaking, realizing, as he did, that if the 
 Atlantic cable was a success, Madrid would be within one hour's 
 cable communication with Havana. 
 
 A formal application for a concession was then prepared and, 
 bearing the endorsement of the Captain-General, was forwarded 
 by the first mail steamer to Madrid. The Captain-General in- 
 formed me that it would be about the first of September before 
 I could expect a reply from Madrid, and, in consequence, he ad- 
 vised me to return to New York, as the yellow fever was prevalent 
 in Havana at that time. I thanked him for the advice, but 
 decided to remain in Havana until I heard the result of my applica- 
 tion. Those were anxious days and I eagerly watched the arrival 
 of every Spanish mail steamer. Finally, at the end of August, 
 in calling upon the Captain-General, I was received by his sec- 
 retary, who had news for me, but not the news that I was looking 
 for! You may imagine my disappointment, my bitter disap- 
 pointment, when the secretary told me that he had just received 
 a copy of the "Diario Oficial" containing a Decree which granted 
 to Messrs. Arturo Marcoartu, the Marquises of Mariano and 
 Manzanedo, the Count of Bsteban de Canongo, Michael ChevaUer, 
 Ferdinand de Lesseps and Leopold Werner, authority to establish 
 the very cable connection for which I had petitioned. I was 
 stunned, and upon examination of the Royal Decree found that 
 the language of the same was identical with the wording of my 
 own petition! I instantly realized that the Royal Decree was 
 the key to the whole situation. The secretary of the Captain- 
 General was kind enough to furnish me with a copy of it and I 
 returned to New York for conference with my associates, Messrs. 
 Minturn and Taylor. The latter two said it was useless to go 
 further with the scheme and withdrew, offering to pay aU of my 
 expenses, which up to that time amounted to $800. I asked 
 Messrs. Minturn and Taylor for letters formally withdrawing 
 from the scheme and said that I would personally assume all 
 expenditures. 
 
 My next step was to give the Royal Decree proper publicity 
 
 70 
 
in the United States and I arranged with a Captain Starr, who 
 had served as a gallant officer in the Army of the Potomac and 
 was then in charge of the New York Herald's foreign news bureau, 
 to give it the desired publicity. I prepared a statement for pub- 
 lication in the Herald, in which I incorporated a translation of 
 the Royal Decree of June 30, 1865, granting to Marcoartu and 
 his associates the concession for the Cuban-American Cable. 
 The article called the attention of the United States Government 
 and all of the Chambers of Commerce in the country to the 
 dangers of such a concession, showing that American commerce 
 would suffer and that a Spanish-owned cable monopoly would 
 control the sugar markets of the world. The article clearly stated 
 that it was the duty of the United States Government to prohibit 
 the landing of such a Spanish cable on the coast of the United 
 States unless reciprocal rights for an American cable were granted 
 by Spain. It fm-ther emphasized the fact that the Royal Decree 
 was identical with my application of early June and quoted dates 
 to prove that there was just time for the arrival of my application 
 in Madrid, the copying of the same, and the formal reissuance 
 thereof in the names of the parties above mentioned, instead of 
 in my own name. 
 
 J- Armed with the New York Herald and a copy of the Royal 
 f Decree, I immediately went to Washington, and called on the 
 Honorable William H. Seward, the Secretary of State, who had 
 by that time fully recovered. I had never met Secretary Seward, 
 but he received me most kindly. In a few words I explained to 
 the Secretary the trouble that had come to my American project 
 and the fact that I had been robbed of the concession. I told 
 him that as the law stood at that time there was nothing to 
 prohibit the landing of a Spanish cable on our shores, provided 
 the parties interested owned the property on which the cable was 
 to be landed. Secretary Seward became very much interested; 
 he arose from his desk and walked to and fro in his office. He 
 finally stopped and turning to me said, "Young man, you are 
 mistaken, the three-mile limit off shore is to prohibit an enemy 
 from erecting a battery which would be dangerous to the upland. 
 A cable being silent and secret in its operation, is many times more 
 dangerous than an enemy's battery." He then advised me to 
 
 71 
 
lay my scheme before the United States Congress and assured 
 me that I would have his personal assistance in obtaining rights 
 sufficient to checkmate the Spanish concessionaires. Acting 
 upon Secretary Seward's advice, I formed a Company under the 
 laws of the State of New York, The International Ocean Telegraph 
 Company, the incorporators being James A. Scrymser, Alfred Pell, 
 Alexander Hamilton, Jr., Oliver K. King, Maturin L. Delafield, 
 Major-General William F. Smith and James M. Digges, the latter 
 my brother-in-law. 
 
 A Bill was formally introduced in Congress in December, 
 1865, granting to The International Ocean Telegraph Company 
 the sole right to establish cables between Florida and the West 
 Indies for a period of fourteen years (that being the duration of 
 the patent right to which Mr. Seward considered I was entitled 
 and of which I was deprived by the action of the Spanish Gov- 
 ernment). The Bill passed the House unanimously and finally 
 passed the Senate after a sharp fight. 
 
 General William F. Smith (commonly called "Baldy") 
 had left the United States service at the close of the war. I had 
 served as his Aide-de-camp in many battles between the years 
 of 1 86 1 and 1865. General Smith wrote to me from Chicago, 
 saying that he had seen my name associated with a cable enter- 
 prise which he thought possessed much merit. General Smith 
 asked if there was any show for him in the project, adding that 
 if there was, he would be very glad to offer his services, for, he 
 said, if General Grant is made President, he will send me to 
 Alaska (because of an unfortunate quarrel Smith had had with 
 Grant and others in the Army). 
 
 I at once called a meeting of my associates for the purpose 
 of formal organization. General William F. Smith was elected 
 President of the Company with a salary of $10,000 a year and 
 $100,000 of stock, contributed by myself and friends. The 
 new President, General Smith, at once departed for Madrid 
 with letters from Secretary Seward and others to the then Amer- 
 ican Minister, Hon. John P. Hale. General Smith was success- 
 ful in proving conclusively that the concession granted on the 
 30th of June, 1865, to Marcoartu and his associates was a palpa- 
 ble fraud. This was a simple matter to do as I had already ob- 
 
 72 
 
tained letters from Marcoartu's associates, the Marquises of 
 Mariano and Manzanedo, the Count of Esteban de Canongo, 
 Ferdinand de Lesseps and others, stating that their names had 
 been used by Marcoartu without authority, and each gentleman 
 authorized me to say that he had withdrawn from any connec- 
 tion with Marcoartu's enterprise. General Smith, in view of 
 all this, soon obtained a Royal Decree annulling the Marcoartu 
 Concession and granting to General Smith, as representative of 
 The International Ocean Telegraph Company, a concession 
 covering all of the rights for which I had originally asked. This 
 concession was dated Madrid, June 17, 1866. General Smith 
 was very largely aided in his negotiations with the Spanish Gov- 
 ernment by Horatio J. Perry, the Secretary of the United States 
 Legation at Madrid. This concession was subsequently made 
 an exclusive one for a period of forty years and expired June 
 17, 1906. 
 
 Based on this concession and exclusive rights granted by 
 the United States Congress dated May 5, 1866, and signed by 
 President Andrew Johnson, The International Ocean Telegraph 
 Compan}'- was completely organized and the contract for the cable 
 was made with The India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph 
 Works Company, Limited, of London and, later, the cable was 
 successfully laid between Punta Rassa, Florida and Havana, 
 via Key West. 
 
 The cable was first opened to the public in December, 1866, 
 and, from the start, its traffic was large and profitable. The first 
 tariff, I remember, was $10 for a message of ten words and $1 .00, 
 for each word in excess. ■''" 
 
 Unfortunately, General Smith, who was a very ambitious 
 man, quarreled with Cyrus W. Field and the Western Union 
 Telegraph Company officials, and the quarrel resulted in the 
 Western Union finally obtaining control of The International 
 Ocean Telegraph Company. 
 
 In December, 1866, General E. S. Sanford, President of the 
 American Telegraph Company, and Dr. Norvin Green, called 
 upon me to demand, in the name of their Company, that the 
 International Ocean Telegraph Company should enter into an 
 agreement with the American Telegraph Company whereby the 
 
 73 
 
latter' s lines should not be extended northward beyond the city 
 of Gainesville, Georgia, and that all Florida and West India 
 traffic to places north of Gainesville should be handed to the 
 American Telegraph Company, the arrangement being reciprocal 
 on south-bound traffic. 
 
 The International Ocean Telegraph Company, under this 
 agreement, was to retain control over all Florida and West India 
 traffic. (The American Telegraph Company afterwards became 
 the Western Union Telegraph Company.) 
 
 I foresaw the value of the future Florida traffic and at once 
 advised that the International Ocean Telegraph Company should 
 enter into the thirty-year agreement proposed by Dr. Norvin 
 Green and his associates. An agreement, on the lines mentioned, 
 was made and it is needless to state that, within the thirty years, 
 the Florida traffic proved of great value, greater than all of the 
 West India traffic combined. 
 
 Subsequently, General E. S. Sanford and William G. Fargo, 
 through powers of attorney issued by the International Ocean 
 Telegraph Company to that Company's agent. Baron von Hippie, 
 obtained concessions and sudsidies from the more important 
 West India Islands, amounting to £17,000 per annum. Based 
 upon these concessions, the West India and Panama Telegraph 
 Company, an English corporation, was formed. That Company 
 laid its cables from Cienfuegos to Santiago, Cuba, thence to Colon, 
 on the Isthmus of Panama, and through the West India Islands 
 as far as Demerara, with the ultimate intention of extending the 
 same to Brazil. It was later discovered, however, that the Bra- 
 zilian Government had already granted to the Brazilian Sub- 
 marine Telegraph Company (afterwards the Western Telegraph 
 Company) an exclusive right to the entire coast of Brazil for a 
 period of sixty years from March, 1870. This, of course, blocked 
 the proposed Brazil extension of the West India and Panama 
 Telegraph Company. 
 
 An extension from Panama, southward, on the Pacific side, 
 was thought to be impracticable, because of the fact that the 
 Panama Railroad Company, which held the transit monopoly 
 of the Isthmus of Panama, demanded such a large share of the 
 tolls for carrying the traffic across the Isthmus. The Panama 
 
 74 
 
Railroad Company's proportion was so large that there would 
 have been very little profit left for any cable extension South of 
 Panama. It was also a recognized fact that the South American 
 Republics were decidedly unwilling to have their messages routed 
 by way of Cuba for, at that time, there was an exceedingly hos- 
 tile feeling upon the part of those republics against the mother 
 country, Spain. 
 
 In 1878, Mr. Jay Gould secured control of the International 
 Ocean Telegraph Company and its capital was increased from 
 $1,500,000 to $3,000,000, the Western Union Telegraph Company 
 leasing the Company for ninety-nine years and guaranteeing six 
 per cent on the increased capital. About this time I left the 
 Board of Directors of the International Ocean Telegraph Com- 
 pany, as I saw no prospect of the extension of its lines. I could 
 foresee the value of extension southward and it is a regrettable 
 fact that I met with nothing but discouragement from those who 
 were well informed in regard to the commercial conditions in 
 South America, with the single exception of the late J. Pierpont 
 Morgan, 
 
 2 
 Mexican Telegraph Company 
 
 After retiring from the Board of Directors of the International 
 Ocean Telegraph Company, I turned my attention toward Mexico 
 and Central and South America. For seven years I had been 
 planning a telegraph communication with those countries. 
 
 It will be recalled that General Diaz had become President 
 of Mexico as a revolutionist and the United States Government 
 in consequence had refused for many years to recognize the Gov- 
 ernment of Mexico. President Diaz and his government were 
 finally recognized by the United States in 1879. Because of this 
 non-recognition I had been forced to keep my Mexican scheme 
 a profound secret. When the recognition finally came, I felt 
 that it was time to act. 
 
 As a preliminary step I applied to the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company for a contract for the handling of all of its Mexi- 
 can and Central American traffic. I was told that there was no 
 business with Mexico worth my while to exploit and that the 
 
 75 
 
Western Union Telegraph Company did not find its Mexican 
 trafi&c at all profitable. I was persistent, however, and fiinally 
 concluded a satisfactory contract with the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company. 
 
 Armed with this contract, I went to Mexico in 1879 with 
 letters of introduction from the proprietors of the Alexandre 
 Steamship Company, then operating a line of steamers between 
 New York and Vera Cruz. These letters of introduction resulted 
 in my interesting two influential Mexican gentlemen, Senor Don 
 Ramon G. Guzman and Senor Don Sebastian Camacho. These 
 gentlemen arranged for a personal interview between General 
 Diaz and myself. General Diaz was most courteous and fore- 
 saw the necessity of reliable cable communication with Mexico. 
 In less than a week a contract was signed by President Diaz, 
 granting to the Mexican Telegraph Company permission to es- 
 tablish its cables and lines, connecting the City of Mexico, Vera 
 Cruz and Tampico with a station in the State of Texas. 
 
 Arrangements were made for the exchange of Mexican and 
 Central American traffic with the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company's lines at Galveston, Texas, and the cable was laid 
 and in operation within one year of the signing of the contract. 
 Contrary to the discouraging view of Mr. William Orton, then 
 President of the Western Union Telegraph Company, the VIA 
 GALVESTON route was a success from the start and imme- 
 diately became a valuable and growing feeder to the lines of the 
 Western Union Telegraph Company. 
 
 Mr. Orton's misjudgment of the value of the Mexican traffic 
 reminds me of the time he refused to take an interest in the 
 Bell Telephone invention. In the early days of that in- 
 vention, at the request of Mr. Hilborne Roosevelt, of New York, 
 I interviewed Mr. Orton with the view of having his company 
 take an interest in pushing the new invention. Mr. Roosevelt 
 held an option on the Bell patents for the State of New York 
 and these were subject to a royalty of $8,000 a year. I was told 
 by Mr. Orton that "Telephony was a thing like the comet then 
 in the heavens, magnificent, but no good." I remember reply- 
 ing to Mr. Orton that the time would come when the telephone 
 would largely supersede the Western Union Telegraph Company. 
 
 76 
 
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN TELEGRAPH CO. BUILDING, 
 BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINE 
 
The Mexican Telegraph Company has always been most 
 fortunate in the personnel of its Boards of Directors; men of dis- 
 tinction and standing, and I have counted it a privilege indeed 
 to associate with men like John W. Auchincloss, Edmund L. 
 Baylies, R. Fulton Cutting, John J. Pierrepont, Percy R. Pyne, 
 William Emlen Roosevelt, Charles Howland Russell and Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt, comprising the present Board. 
 
 I have already referred to Senor Don Sebastian Camacho, 
 of the City of Mexico. Senor Camacho has acted as the Com- 
 pany's Resident Vice-President in that City for many years 
 and it is a pleasure to testify to his fidelity and ability and his 
 zeal for the Company's interests. 
 
 Central and South American Telegraph Company 
 
 The Mexican Telegraph Company was so highly successful 
 that I determined to lose no time in extending the system to 
 Central and South America, operating the same under a separate 
 company, to be known as the Central and South American Tele- 
 graph Company. 
 
 It was necessary, of course, to interest capital in the enter- 
 prise and, with that in view, I called upon Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, 
 then a Director in the Mexican Telegraph Company, to explain 
 my scheme. In the course of om- conversation, I casually inti- 
 mated that I purposed going to London to raise the necessary 
 capital there. Mr. Morgan quickly responded (as I thought 
 he would do) that I could do better in New York than I could in 
 London, and he immediately invited me to meet some of his 
 friends at the Union League Club the following evening at din- 
 ner. The dinner was a most enjoyable aflfair and Mr. Morgan 
 had as his guests, among others, Edward D. Adams, Charles 
 Lanier and John W. Ellis. The conversation was most general 
 and not a word was said about cable enterprises until the coffee 
 and cigars were served. It was then that Mr. Morgan turned 
 to me and asked me to explain my Central and South American 
 Cable scheme. I did so as briefly and as concisely as possible, 
 and Mr. Morgan and the others seemed to be greatly interested. 
 
 77 
 
After I had finished my explanation, Mr. Morgan asked me 
 in that quick and decisive way for which he was famous, "How 
 much money do you need?" I replied, "Five million dollars." 
 Mr. Morgan came back with, " Can't you get along with less than 
 five million?" "Not a cent less," I replied, for I knew that it 
 was a hazardous undertaking and I wanted to be sure that I 
 would have enough money to meet any contingency which might 
 arise. In less than ten minutes the money was promised and 
 an agreement effected whereby I was to have four millions of 
 dollars on demand and the banking houses of Drexel, Morgan & 
 Company, Winslow, Lanier & Company and Drexel & Company 
 were to advance me another million, if required. 
 
 The Central and South American Telegraph Company was 
 a paying undertaking from the start, and the wisdom of its pro- 
 moters was fully justified. When the Company opened its lines 
 to the public in 1882, the rate between the United States and 
 Buenos Aires was $7.50 per word. New York, San Francisco, 
 etc., being counted as two words. The present rate between the 
 Argentine Republic, Chile, Peru and the United States is 65 
 cents per word and the average time of transmission between 
 Buenos Aires and New York City is about twenty minutes. The 
 Company has been of inestimable service to American commerce 
 and American diplomacy and, I repeat, the wisdom of its pro- 
 motors has been fully justified. 
 
 The Central and South American Telegraph Company has 
 also been fortunate in the personnel of its Boards of Directors, 
 men of distinction and note, highly respected in many walks of 
 life. The pjesent board consists of Edward D. Adams, Robert 
 W. de Forest, William Pierson Hamilton, J. Montgomery Hare, 
 Francis L. Higginson, Charles Lanier, William Emlen Roosevelt 
 and William D. Sloane; association with these men has been a 
 rare privilege. 
 
 78 
 

 
 
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Map of the Mexican and Central and South 
 American Telegraph Co/s Systems 
 
 THE accompanying map clearly describes the VIA GALVES- 
 TON and VIA COLON systems of the Mexican Telegraph 
 Company and the Central and South American Telegraph Com- 
 pany. On the map, I have inserted the duplicate New 
 York-Colon Cable, which is to be laid within a few months, and, 
 by means of dotted lines, have shown the proposed new exten- 
 sions from Buenos Aires, in the Argentine, to Santos and Rio de 
 Janeiro, in the Republic of Brazil. 
 
 With the map there is printed mileage summaries of cables 
 and landlines. These summaries include the new duplicate 
 New York-Colon Cable about to be laid, but do not include the 
 new cables from Buenos Aires to Santos and Rio de Janeiro, 
 about 1 200 miles and 1300 miles, respectively. 
 
 It is an impressive fact that the cables of the Central and 
 South American Telegraph Company rest on the bottom at a 
 depth of 18,000 feet in the Pacific Ocean and at a height of 12,000 
 feet at the highest point in the Andes, making a total measurement 
 of six miles from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to the top of 
 the Andes mountains. 
 
 79 
 
Genius of Electricity 
 
 THE accompanying illustration is a photograph of a very hand- 
 some and unique gift with which I was honored in 1885. The 
 "Genius of Electricity" is a beautiful bronze and surmounts a 
 clock in the shape of the globe. 
 
 The gift is explained in the following correspondence: 
 
 New York, November 27, 1885. 
 Dear Mr. Scrymser: 
 
 Please accept the accompanying "Genius of Electricity" as 
 an evidence of our appreciation of your singleness of purpose, your 
 untiring application, and your skilful management in the protection 
 and development of the cable business in which we are mutually 
 interested. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Drexel, Morgan & Co. 
 WiNSLOw, Lanier & Co. 
 Drexel & Co. 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq., 
 Present. 
 
 Central and South American Telegraph Co. 
 
 New York, December 7, 1885. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I sincerely thank you for the beautiful gift received on Satur- 
 day last, of the " Genius of Electricity," and your complimentary let- 
 ter accompanying it. 
 
 In reciprocating your congratulations I must disclaim having 
 done more than my duty to yourselves and others, without whose 
 aid and encouragement this cable enterprise could not have realized 
 so signal a success. 
 
 With such sentiments of mutual confidence I feel assured that 
 otir good work must prosper and extend. I am, gentlemen. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 James A. Scrymser. 
 Messrs. Drexel, Morgan & Co. 
 Messrs. Winslow, Lanier & Co. 
 Messrs. Drexel & Co. 
 
 80 
 
GENIUS OF ELECTRICITY 
 
 Presented to Captain Scrymser by Drexel, Morgan and Co.; Winslow. 
 
 Lanier and Co.; Drexel and Co. 
 
Extension to Brazil 
 
 THE cable system of the Central and South American Tele- 
 graph Company now extends as far as Buenos Aires in the 
 Argentine Republic. 
 
 Because of exclusive concessions granted by Brazil to English 
 companies, we have been unable to extend our cables to Brazil. 
 For the perfection of the Central and South American cable sys- 
 tem I have striven incessantly for forty-six years to gain cable 
 landings there. The exclusive English concessions referred to 
 have recently lapsed and, if all goes well, the lines of the Central 
 and South American Telegraph Company will be landed in Rio 
 de Janeiro and in Santos, Brazil, before many months, by authority 
 of the Brazilian Government. 
 
 It is unnecessary to make detailed mention of my efforts 
 to reach Brazil. It will be of interest, however, if I insert in these 
 reminiscences the initial correspondence between Secretary of 
 State, Hon. William H. Seward, and myself, as follows: 
 
 New York, March 26, 1868. 
 Hon. William H. Seward, 
 Secretary of State, 
 Washington. 
 Sir: 
 
 As the projector and a Director of the International Ocean 
 Telegraph Co. (Cuba and Florida Telegraph), I desire to obtain 
 from the Government of Brazil the necessary aid and authority 
 to extend the Unes of the Co. over the West India Islands to a con- 
 venient point on the coast of Brazil. 
 
 With the view of effecting the accomplishment of this important 
 enterprise, I have the honor respectfully to request that you be 
 pleased to authorize and instruct our Minister to Brazil to present to 
 that Government the application forwarded for that purpose by the 
 mail steamer which left for Rio de Janeiro on the 22nd inst. 
 I have the honor to be. Sir, 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 James A. Scrymser. 
 
 81 
 
Department of State, 
 Washington, March 30, 1868. 
 Jas. Watson Webb, Esq., 
 &c., &c., Rio de Janeiro. 
 Sir: 
 
 I herewith enclose to you a copy of a communication addressed 
 to this Department by Jas. A. Scrymser, Esqr., projector and a 
 Director of the International Ocean Telegraph Company desiring to 
 obtain aid and authority from the Brazilian Government to ex- 
 tend the lines of his Company over the West India Islands to a 
 convenient point on the coast of Brazil. 
 
 You are instructed to give such assistance as may be in your 
 power towards effecting the accomplishment of the object in view. 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. H. Seward. 
 
 Even in those early days, Secretary of State Seward fore- 
 saw the strategic value of cables to this Government and the vital 
 importance of an American-owned cable system with Mexico, 
 Central and South America, and his distinguished successors 
 have, like him, rendered me every possible assistance in my 
 endeavor to secure for the United States of America an all- Amer- 
 ican cable system to the south of us. 
 
 The Monroe Doctrine makes such a system doubly impera- 
 tive. 
 
 The establishment of these all-American lines is of vital 
 national importance. If these same lines had been estabUshed 
 by foreigners the United States Government, in case of war, 
 might be debarred from making use of them, especially so if the 
 question of neutrality were enforced. 
 
 82 
 
Side-Lights on Cable Management 
 
 IN its early days the Central and South American Telegraph 
 Company, like many South American enterprises, discovered 
 that investors were critical and fearful of South American revolu- 
 tions, earthquakes, etc. I never shared in these fears and in all of 
 my forty-seven years of experience in dealing with twenty-one 
 nationalities, I have had less trouble with all of them together 
 than I have had with the United States Government during the 
 past five years. 
 
 In fact, I recall but two instances in which the Central and 
 South American Telegraph Company has met with any difficulty, 
 once in Guatemala and once in Chile. 
 
 In Guatemala, the cable ship "Silvertown" was about to 
 land oiu" cable at San Jos^, under an exclusive concession, which 
 Guatemala had granted to the Central and South American 
 Telegraph Company. It so happened that on the very day 
 planned for the landing of our cable at San Jos^, I noticed an arti- 
 cle in a newspaper to the effect that Guatemala had also granted 
 a concession to an English company, for the laying of a cable 
 between Guatemala, on the Atlantic side, with Cuba. This con- 
 cession was, of coiu-se, entirely contrary to the exclusive conces- 
 sion which Guatemala had granted to oiu: Company. In conse- 
 quence, I immediately ordered the cable ship not to land the 
 cable at San Jos6, Guatemala, but to proceed to La Libertad, 
 San Salvador. This action made Guatemala wholly dependent 
 upon cable communication through San Salvador. Such routing 
 was not what Guatemala wanted and Guatemala showed much 
 jealousy in the matter and ultimately a war took place between 
 Guatemala and Salvador. The war was a long one and Guate- 
 mala came out bankrupt despite the fact that previously the coun- 
 try had been in a most prosperous condition. In the final battle 
 the President of Guatemala, Senor Barrios, was killed and his 
 Army defeated. 
 
 83 
 
Year after year Guatemala sent delegations to us in New 
 York urging independent cable connection. These delegations 
 were always told that if Guatemala would deposit $200,000 in 
 gold and guarantee a contract which would not be violated, as the 
 first contract had been, cable communication with Guatemala 
 would be established. Our offer was finally agreed to and a 
 day was fixed for the landing of the cable at San Jos^, Guatemala. 
 The President of Guatemala and his staff, in gorgeous uniforms, 
 journeyed to San Jos^ in a private car stocked with champagne 
 and other luxuries. Messages had been prepared for transmis- 
 sion to the Royalties of Europe and to the President of the United 
 States, but, unfortunately for the festivities, a decline in silver 
 had taken place and we were short $5,000 gold in the cm-rency 
 equivalent of the $200,000 gold which the Government was to 
 pay us. I positively declined to open the cable until that balance 
 was deposited. The President of Guatemala proposed to arbi- 
 trate the matter, which I declined. They drank their champagne 
 and in the course of the following week the balance was made 
 good and the cable opened to the public. 
 
 In Chile, we had trouble during the Balmaceda revolution. 
 The navy remained loyal and the headquarters of the Government 
 were transferred from Santiago to Iquique, where the Congress 
 met aboard ship and the Government was carried on in the most 
 formal manner. The southern part of Chile was under the con- 
 trol of the Balmaceda party and our manager was verbally ordered 
 to close the cable. On being informed of this demand, I in- 
 structed our manager to require a written order and not to ac- 
 cept verbal orders. Upon receipt of a written order, the Val- 
 paraiso end of the cable was closed and the Company suffered a 
 considerable loss of trafiic, in consequence. At the conclusion 
 of the war it was arranged that all American claims should be 
 settled by arbitration and, because of the written order which 
 we presented, the Board of Arbitration awarded our Company 
 $28,298. 
 
 84 
 
Wireless Competition 
 
 IN my experience as President of the Mexican Telegraph Com- 
 pany and Central and South American Telegraph Company, 
 I have found considerable apprehension among the shareholders, 
 during the past ten years, over possible competition resulting 
 from a perfected wireless telegraphy. Although I have realized 
 the immense value of wireless telegraphy, I have not shared in 
 this solicitude. 
 
 Recent events in Vera Cruz have shown that our Companies 
 have little to fear from wireless competition in the tropics. As an 
 evidence, I may cite the fact that the United States Government 
 has established wireless stations on the Isthmus of Panama; 
 at Guantanamo, Cuba; at Key West, Florida; at Pensacola, 
 Florida; and at Arlington, near Washington; all at a cost esti- 
 mated at over four million dollars and the further significant 
 fact, that during the first three months of our military occupa- 
 tion of Vera Cruz over thirty United States naval vessels, fully 
 equipped with the most costly wireless apparatus, have failed to 
 establish satisfactory wireless communication between Vera 
 Cruz and the Government stations mentioned. Most, if not all, 
 of the official telegrams between the military and naval forces at 
 Vera Cruz and places in the United States were transmitted over 
 the cables of the Mexican Telegraph Company and to the entire 
 satisfaction of United States Government oSicials. 
 
 It is curious, too, to note that the newspaper reports, at that 
 time, mentioned on a number of occasions that wireless communi- 
 cation between our naval vessels at Vera Cruz and Tampico, a 
 distance of about 220 miles, had been frequently interrupted 
 and delayed because of local thunderstorms and consequent 
 electrical disturbances. 
 
 85 
 
Mr. Jay Gould's Opposition 
 
 IN speaking of the organization of the Central and South Amer- 
 ican Telegraph Company, the readers of my reminiscences will, 
 I am sure, be interested in one incident of early opposition to the 
 scheme for which I had worked so zealously. 
 
 When we were ready to launch the Company, we naturally 
 issued a Prospectus, containing map and full information of the 
 commerce and population of Central and South America. 
 
 One day, shortly after the issuance of this Prospectus, a boy 
 applied at my office for a copy. He was an entire stranger and 
 there was something in his manner which aroused my suspicion. 
 I told my office boy to give him the Prospectus but to follow him, 
 when he went out, and if possible locate where he came from. 
 Within a short time my "detective" returned, having success- 
 fully located the messenger to whom the Prospectus had been 
 delivered, and reported to me that the "other boy" belonged to 
 the office of the President of the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company. 
 
 That afternoon I took occasion to drop into the Executive 
 Office of the Western Union, knowing that they had had time to 
 dissect and digest the Prospectus of the Central and South Amer- 
 ican Telegraph Company, for which they had sent that morn- 
 ing. I was greeted by the Vice-President, General Eckert, and 
 then, for the first time, met Mr. Jay Gould. 
 
 Mr. Gould ' ' looked me over ' ' thoroughly. I could see that his 
 mind was fixed upon the Central and South American Telegraph 
 Company's Prospectus and that he did not realize that I was the 
 man who had played a rather important part in the promotion 
 of the International Ocean Telegraph Company, operating a 
 cable between Florida and Cuba. 
 
 Mr. Gould said to me, "Why didn't you bring that South 
 American cable scheme to this office — this is the headquarters 
 of all such schemes and where they receive prompt attention?" 
 
 86 
 
He then paused, finally adding, in slowly measured words, "I 
 want to tell you, sir, I intend to oppose you!" I realized at once 
 the great importance of a prompt counter ofTensive movement 
 and replied: "Mr. Gould, people who live in glass houses must 
 not throw stones. You think your Havana cable has a monopoly, 
 I presume?" "I don't think anything about it, I know," was his 
 quick rejoinder, to which I answered, "I organized that Com- 
 pany (International Ocean Telegraph Company) and know it 
 better than you do and know, too, that you have doubled its 
 capital to three millions of dollars and have caused the Western 
 Union to guarantee six per cent, interest upon the whole amount. 
 We may as well understand one another at once, Mr. Gould. 
 You tell me you are going to oppose my South American cable 
 scheme; if you do, I will attack your Havana cable scheme." 
 "Go ahead," replied Mr. Gould, "and it will be a fight to the fin- 
 ish." After this interview you may be sm-e that I kept my eyes 
 and ears open. 
 
 Shortly after, I learned that General Grant was in the City 
 of Mexico, as the agent of Jay Gould and under "orders" to have 
 oiu" Mexican concession canceled or to obtain another for a cable 
 which could parallel ours. In course of time it transpired that 
 General Grant was the innocent but influential agent of Mr. 
 Gould for promoting the Gould railroad system, with Mexico 
 as its terminal. 
 
 Realizing that a combination such as General Grant and 
 Jay Gould was an "opposition" that required decisive action, I 
 at once cabled to London, instructing my agents there to obtain 
 for the Central and South American Telegraph Company a con- 
 cession from the Spanish Government for the laying of a cable 
 between Havana and Vera Cruz, This concession was promptly 
 secured. 
 
 Of course, the Western Union and Mr. Gould soon learned of 
 my flank move on Havana. Some time later, I met General 
 Grant in New York. He had just returned from Mexico and I 
 referred to his work there for a telegraph concession. General 
 Grant replied that he was simply obeying the "orders" of Mr. 
 Gould. 1 
 
 1 It was indeed a painful sight to me to see the first General of the United States 
 Army and an ex-President of the United States acting as Mr. Gould's agent, going from 
 
 87 
 
Mr. Jay Gould did not secure the telegraph concession 
 from Mexico, but he did learn of my success in securing the con- 
 cession from Spain. 
 
 Shortly after Spain had granted the concession for a cable 
 between Havana and Vera Cruz, on my trip downtown one morn- 
 ing, on the Third Avenue elevated, I noticed a man, seated oppo- 
 site, buried in his newspaper, but occasionally looking over its 
 top at me. I soon discovered that it was Mr. Jay Gould and I 
 made up my mind to pass him by as if he were an entire stranger. 
 
 As I walked up William Street, someone seized me by the 
 elbow and said he would like to have a few words with me. It 
 was Mr. Gould. As it was raining hard, we stepped into the door- 
 way of one of the large office buildings. Mr. Gould opened the 
 conversation. "Mr Scrymser," he said, "you will recall our 
 conversation in the Western Union building. I have been think- 
 ing it over and have concluded that there is no reason why our 
 interests should conflict and I wish to say, Mr. Scrymser, that I 
 have decided not to oppose your scheme." I replied, "Mr. 
 Gould, you are too late. I have planned to extend our cable to 
 Havana." 
 
 He looked at me sharply and then advised that I should see 
 General Eckert, the Vice-President of the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company, saying that he would see him himself in the 
 meantime. He then expressed the hope that we could come to a 
 peaceful understanding. I told Mr. Gould that General Eckert 
 knew where my office was and that if he had anything to propose 
 I should be very glad to see him. General Eckert called on me 
 later and the Gould opposition was formally withdrawn, Mr. 
 Gould agreeing to defray the expense of the one thousand pounds 
 deposit which my agents had made for me in Madrid. 
 
 This contest occurred about thirty -five years ago; since that 
 time my relations with the Western Union Telegraph Company 
 have been most satisfactory and cordial in every respect. 
 
 office to office in New York to collect the ten per cent, dues on syndicate subscriptions 
 to the "Occidental Railway," which railway Mr. Gould was then picturing to the public 
 as an "international" railroad scheme. General Grant was evidently unaware that he 
 was performing a work usually performed by office boys and, in his innocence, was evidently 
 proud of the fact that he was the personal representative of a railway scheme which was 
 being "boomed" largely through his own personality, with good effect in New York and 
 Europe. It is needless to add that the Occidental Company, which was to control all the 
 railway systems of Mexico, never materialized and the Wabash and other railroads which 
 were to connect with the Occidental have been repeatedly in the hands of receivers since 
 that time. 
 
Count Ferdinand de Lesseps 
 
 A STORY of the start of the Mexican and Central and South 
 American Telegraph Companies would be incomplete with- 
 out a reference to Count Ferdinand de Lesseps. 
 
 In the spring of 1880, Count de Lesseps visited New York 
 on his way to the Isthmus of Panama, his first visit there. It 
 was a delight and a privilege to meet the Count, which I fre- 
 quently did, while he was in New York. His enthusiasm and 
 determination were contagious. 
 
 I find in my old files a copy of a letter which I wrote to the 
 Count and his reply, wherein reference is also made to a projected 
 line across the Pacific Ocean. These two letters follow: 
 
 Mexican Telegraph Company, 
 
 New York, March 30, 1880. 
 Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, 
 
 Windsor Hotel, New York. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I enclose for your examination the map and prospectus of the 
 Mexican Telegraph Company; also a Telegraphic Chart of the 
 World. 
 
 You will note that the route of the Mexican Telegraph Com- 
 pany furnishes the telegraphic link necessary to connect South 
 and Central America with the United States and Eiirope. 
 
 You will also observe that the projected line across the Pacific 
 Ocean from the coast of Central America to New Zealand, Australia, 
 China and Japan will insure a direct and certain route to the East. 
 Despatches will then be forwarded in one language, avoiding the 
 mistakes and delays occurring on the route via Russia, Turkey, 
 Persia and India, besides secxiring for the $50,000,000 of capital 
 invested in the North Atlantic cables, the European and Ameri- 
 can traffic to and from the East which now goes via Russia, and the 
 Asiatic countries. 
 
 It is now too late to discuss the abstract question of the use- 
 fulness of the telegraph. It would be as easy now to dispense with 
 the steam engine on land as to forego the use of the submarine 
 cable across the seas. I feel assured that this cable now submitted 
 to yoiu- clear appreciation wiU become one of the most important 
 
 89 
 
auxiliaries of your great undertaking, the Panama Canal, even dur- 
 ing its construction. 
 I remain, dear sir, 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 James A. Scrymser, 
 
 President. 
 
 New York, March 31, 1880. 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq. 
 
 President, Mexican Telegraph Company, 
 New York. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I thank you for the interesting details you give me relative 
 to the telegraphic communication established, and to be estab- 
 lished, between the American continent and the rest of the world. 
 
 I am particularly struck with the advantages that will result 
 from placing Japan, China, Australia, etc., etc., in telegraphic 
 communication with the United States and Europe, by connecting 
 the end of your projected Central American cables with the tele- 
 graphic system of New Zealand and Australia. 
 
 The submarine lines now connecting Europe with America 
 will gain enormously thereby, on account of the rapidity and uni- 
 formity of messages to and from those far off countries, messages 
 which are now transmitted by the complicated and uncertain way 
 of Russia and the Asiatic countries. 
 
 Central America is on the eve of witnessing great events, nota- 
 bly, the cutting of the Isthmus of Panama, which will give those 
 regions an incalculable importance and will cause your system of 
 submarine lines in the Pacific to become indispensable. 
 
 Your American spirit of enterprise reverses the established order 
 of things; henceforth to communicate from Europe eastward we will 
 have to go West. 
 
 Accept with my thanks my most sincere wishes for the success 
 of your important undertaking, in which you are so well seconded 
 by your worthy Vice-President, Mr. de Sabla, my friend and co- 
 laborer in the great work of the Panama Canal. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Ferd. de Lesseps. 
 
 One of Count de Lesseps prominent associates was Bonaparte 
 Wyse, who, with his wife, visited New York a year before the 
 Count's visit. Mr. Wyse possessed also a most inspiring enthu- 
 siasm in his faith in the Panama Canal project. It was Mr. Wyse 
 who obtained the original concession from the United States of 
 
 90 
 
COUNT FERDINAND DE LESSEPS 
 
Colombia, under which the de Lesseps Company was formed and 
 exploited. 
 
 Another prominent worker with Count de Lesseps was my 
 cable associate, Theodore J. de Sabla. He was most active in 
 the Canal project and his large acquaintance in the United States 
 of Colombia proved most useful to de Lesseps and Wyse in se- 
 curing the necessary concessions and in developing the plans 
 which were finally adopted by the de Lesseps Company. 
 
 The completion of the Panama Canal by the United States 
 Government recalls those early days and the faith in the under- 
 taking displayed by Count de Lesseps and others. 
 
 91 
 
Value of American-Owned Cables to the American 
 
 Government and Necessity of Governmental 
 
 Jurisdiction 
 
 THE great European War has taught the nations the immense 
 value of strategic cables. For years Great Britain, France 
 and Germany have been diligently engaged in establishing cable 
 communication entirely independent of each other. English, 
 French and German Cable Companies have been heavily subsi- 
 dized by their respective Governments. Complete control of 
 cable communication is most desirable in times of peace and it 
 is most essential in times of war, for it then guarantees to a Gov- 
 ernment a means of communication with its navy and its minis- 
 ters abroad which, because of strict neutrality laws, the Govern- 
 ment would not enjoy if forced to depend upon a foreign cable 
 system. 
 
 For years I have been endeavoring to impress upon the 
 United States Government the vital importance of such control. 
 Its importance was many times exemplified in oiu" war with 
 Spain. 
 
 The Mexican Telegraph Company and the Central and South 
 American Telegraph Company, comprising altogether a system 
 of nearly seventeen thousand miles and connecting Washington, 
 telegraphically, with Mexico and all of the Central and South 
 American Republics, have given to the Government, gratuitously, 
 an ail-American cable system, the value of which is inestimable. 
 
 I say "gratuitously," for the United States Government has 
 never contributed one cent to the establishment of this great 
 system to the South of us. 
 
 The origin of these two Companies has already been alluded 
 I to, but it is an interesting fact worth recording that they grew 
 out of a monopoly which was granted by the United States Con- 
 gress in 1865 to the International Ocean Telegraph Company. 
 Little was it dreamed at that time that the sole right for 14 
 years then granted was destined to be the foundation stone of 
 
 92 
 
an ail-American cable system with Mexico, Central and South 
 America. 
 
 Although neither Company has ever received a subsidy from 
 the United States Government, I feel that here I should record 
 my sincere appreciation of the assistance which we have received, 
 diplomatically, from the following Secretaries of State, viz., 
 William H. Seward, Thomas F. Bayard, James G. Blaine, Fred- 
 erick T. Frelinghuysen, John Hay, EHhu Root, Philander C. 
 Knox and William Jennings Bryan, and from the present As- 
 sistant Secretary of State, Robert Lansing. All of these distin- 
 guished officials have been far-seeing enough to recognize the 
 political and commercial value of an independent American 
 cable communication and have ably assisted in the establishment 
 and extension of the system. 
 
 It is regrettable, however, that other high officials of the United 
 States Government have blindly opposed the extension of the 
 cables of our two Companies and have been the means of with- 
 holding the governmental support to which the Companies were 
 entitled, in their endeavor to strengthen an all-American cable 
 system. In some quarters, in recent years, it has been consid- 
 ered unwise (politically) to aid "corporations" and to give them 
 the encouragement, support and protection to which they are en- 
 titled. 
 
 It is well, occasionally, to ponder upon the fact that if it 
 had not been for the prompt and wise action of Secretary Seward, 
 in 1865, the present system to which I have referred (connecting 
 United States with Mexico, Central and South America) might 
 to-day be in foreign hands and, in case of war, our Government,, 
 if so engaged, would sufifer very considerably. 
 
 Our absolute unpreparedness at the time of the war with 
 Spain was pitiable, although our sins of omission were ultimately 
 forgotten in the victory of the United States. 
 
 The purpose of this article is to emphasize the value of Amer- 
 ican-owned cables and a brief history of our cable troubles both in 
 Cuba and in Manila, during the Spanish war, will not, I am sure, 
 be amiss. 
 
 When war was declared, our Government and its officers 
 were wholly unprepared to arrange for telegraphic communica- 
 
 93 
 
tion with the island of Cuba, where, it was expected, our Army- 
 would land, at either Matanzas or Santiago. There was not a 
 cable repair ship in the United States service, and no materials 
 whatsoever for picking up or laying cables, were available. 
 
 After the declaration of war, in the Spring of 1898, I received 
 a wire from Washington asking me to make an appointment 
 for the next morning at 8.00 o'clock with a high Government 
 officer, who wished to see me on important official business. 
 The appointment was made, and at the hour named the proposed 
 conference took place. I found the high official very much ex- 
 cited. He told me that the Army was about to be dispatched 
 from Florida to Santiago and that the President had no means 
 of communicating with it when it reached there. He confided 
 to me that the Government had thought of the possibihty of 
 using the British cable, running from Colon, on the Isthmus of 
 Panama, to Santiago, via Jamaica, in connection with the lines 
 of the Central and South American Telegraph Company, then 
 running from New York to Colon, via Galveston. 
 
 "In this emergency," said my distinguished visitor, "the 
 Government has given me authority to purchase the British 
 cable outright." I listened until he had fully outlined the Gov- 
 ernment's plans and then was obliged to point out to him the 
 fact that inasmuch as the cable in question was a British-owned 
 cable, it would be a distinct violation of neutrality for the United 
 States Government to make use of it, even should the Govern- 
 ment buy every share of the British Cable Company. "Spain," 
 I said, "would protest at once and the English Government 
 must, by the rule of nations, prohibit either its purchase or its 
 use by the American Government. And, if it were possible for 
 our Government to purchase the said cable," I remarked, "the 
 cable would be of no use unless it were picked up off Santiago 
 and landed on the coast of Cuba under cover of our guns." 
 
 My visitor saw the truth of this contention and, in despera- 
 tion, asked me if I could not solve the problem. 
 
 It so happened that at the time there was one other cable to 
 Cuba, a subsidized French-owned cable, part of a system which 
 bound North and South America to France. This particular 
 section ran from New York to Santiago, via Hayti. Everybody 
 
 94 
 
recognized that it was a part of the French system and it seemed 
 to be as impossible to use it as the EngHsh cable, which I have 
 mentioned. 
 
 I was well acquainted with the history of this French-owned 
 cable and had in my desk, at the time, a printed copy of the legal 
 proceedings in a United States Government suit against the 
 French Company. The policy of the United States Government, 
 respecting the landing of foreign cables, required that reciprocal 
 rights should be granted to American Companies and, inasmuch 
 as the French Company held exclusive rights in the West Indies, 
 President Cleveland had instructed the Attorney-General to 
 bring suit to enjoin the landing of that cable on the shores of the 
 United States. The Hon. Elihu Root represented the United 
 States in this suit and was amazed when representatives of the 
 Postal Telegraph Company presented an affidavit to the Court 
 showing that ownership of the French cable, between New York 
 and Santiago, had been transferred to an American Company. 
 Now, this Company was a dummy, purely invented to get around 
 the United States injunction. It was called the United States 
 and Hayti Cable Company, and incorporated under the laws of 
 West Virginia. All that this Company actually did was to lay 
 about ten miles of cable from Coney Island through the inshore 
 waters of the United States to the high seas and, yet, it 
 solemnly submitted an affidavit which said: 
 
 That it was really the owner of the cable now being laid from 
 New York City to Hayti; that it was the Companj^'s intention to 
 control and operate such cable and all the parts thereof; that it had 
 no connection whatsoever with the French Cable Company; and 
 that it was its intention to continue to own, operate and control 
 the proposed cable. 
 
 As a result of this affidavit, the Court was forced to decide 
 the suit in favor of the Company. Little did the "United States 
 and Hayti Cable Company" ever dream that their affidavit was 
 to be of distinct service to the United States Government ! 
 
 I explained to the officer, with whom I was conferring, the 
 full history of this French Company and, in response to his re- 
 quest for a solution of the problem which confronted Washing- 
 ton, I advised him that the United States Government should 
 
 95 
 
immediately seize the New York-Hayti-Santiago cable, and this 
 the Government did without delay. As soon as the fact of the 
 seizure was learned, the French Ambassador called at the State 
 Department to protest against the seizure of "the French cable," 
 but when the Ambassador was shown a copy of the affidavit 
 of his "French Company" he had nothing more to say. 
 
 With the seizure of this cable, communication with our army 
 in Cuba was possible, provided the United States Government 
 could obtain possession of the cable at the Cuban end. The 
 Cuban end landed in Santiago, and Santiago was under the con- 
 trol of the Spanish Government. It was necessary, therefore, 
 to pick up that end, and this was done a few miles east of Santiago. 
 On the very day our Army landed, the cable was brought ashore 
 and direct communication between Shafter's headquarters and 
 the War Department in Washington was established. The 
 steamer " Adria" was converted into a cable ship, the cable ma- 
 chinery and all the necessary equipment, including buoys, tackle 
 and testing apparatus, was supplied by the Mexican Telegraph 
 Company, and the whole expedition was planned in its New 
 York office. The picking up of the cable and the relaying was no 
 easy job. Much of the work was done under fire, with soldiers 
 for cable hands. Lieut. Maturin L. Hellings, previously the 
 Company's engineer for many years, personally took charge of 
 the work. He received the rank of Lieutenant in the Signal 
 Corps, in order that he might have authority over the soldiers 
 and might not be interfered with. I am sure that it will be of 
 interest if I quote some extracts from a letter received from Mr. 
 Hellings. He says: 
 
 As the "Adria" is now nearing Tortugas, for fumigation, and 
 the expedition, apparently, about over, 1 will give you a synopsis of 
 adventures since leaving Key West, May 29th. 
 
 Owing to the nature of the work required, i. e., cutting cables 
 under fire, I found it impossible to persuade any of my experienced 
 cable hands to go with me, hence was supplied with ten soldiers 
 from the First Artillery, U. S. A. 
 
 Well, after a good deal of work, I succeeded in cutting two 
 cables near the Santiago entrance in about 900 fathoms of water, 
 when Captain Rasmussen and his crew struck, claiming he could 
 not risk the lives of his men or injury to his ship any longer. After 
 losing about a week on this account, we went to Guantanamo Bay 
 
 96 
 
and arranged to repair the Guantanamo-Haiti and the Guantanamo- 
 Santiago sections, which, under many trying difficulties, was ac- 
 compHshed in depths varying from 30 to 800 fathoms. 
 
 After this I was instructed to pick up the Guantanamo-Santiago 
 section, just outside of its western landing place, Aguadores, which 
 was in possession of the enemy and splice on to the cable aboard and 
 run it in Saboney, six miles east of Aguadores, which was done. 
 And then the order came to lay a new cable from Diquiri to Guan- 
 tanamo, which was the worst of all ! But after a great deal of hard 
 work and kinking of cable in hold, about every ten minutes, I suc- 
 ceeded in laying about 45 miles of cable in 108 hours. Did you 
 ever hear of anything to beat that? 
 
 The cable connection with Cuba was of inestimable value to 
 our Government. At one critical time, General Shafter tele- 
 graphed President McKinley that he proposed to fall back six 
 miles in order to reach his suppUes. On receipt of this telegram, 
 the President, himself a veteran of the Civil War, realizing how 
 such a retreat in the face of the enemy would demoralize the 
 Army, ordered General Shafter to hold every inch of ground and 
 not to fall back until he had orders to do so. Shortly after this 
 the Spanish Army surrendered. 
 
 It will also be recalled that Col. Roosevelt and others cabled 
 to Washington protesting because of the detention of the army 
 in Cuba when, owing to sickness, it was rapidly disintegrating. 
 The cable here again played an important part for, within a few 
 hours, it was arranged to withdraw the Army from Cuba. Thus 
 it was saved from serious loss through yellow fever. 
 
 The cable played a most important part later at Manila. 
 There was a cable from Hong Kong to Manila and a short ex- 
 tension from Manila to Cavite, on the Island of Luzon. Profit- 
 ing by our experience in Cuba, Commodore Dewey had strict 
 orders from Washington to see that the Spaniards were pre- 
 vented from using the Hong Kong-Manila cable, about 950 miles 
 in length. When Dewey reached Manila, he promptly fished 
 for the cable and the "fishing expedition" was apparently suc- 
 cessful, for Dewey telegraphed to Washington that he had seized 
 the cable and had it lashed to the stern of his ship. 
 
 97 
 
Shortly afterwards, I received a confidential wire from my 
 manager in Galveston to the effect that a cable message, addressed 
 to Valparaiso, Chile, had passed through the Galveston office, 
 containing instructions for the fitting out of a privateer to attack 
 American vessels. The message came from Manila and proved 
 conclusively that there was still cable communication with that 
 place. 
 
 As soon as I received the manager's telegram I communicated 
 with Washington and was asked to come down at once and explain 
 all that I knew of the matter and the cable situation generally. 
 I took the earliest train possible and hastened to the Navy De- 
 partment. There they were most anxious to know whether I 
 could explain the mystery — how a cablegram had come through 
 from Manila when Washington had already received word from 
 Dewey that he had seized the cable and lashed the same to his 
 ship? I told them that the explanation was simple and that 
 Commodore Dewey had picked up, by mistake, the little branch 
 cable to Cavite, instead of the Manila-Hong Kong cable. 
 
 The Washington officials were astounded and likewise in a 
 quandary. The lack of knowledge of the entire situation, which 
 existed in Washington, was lamentable. The first question to 
 be decided was, of course, how to get word to Dewey, telling him 
 of his mistake. It would take a week or more to reach him, and 
 within that time the Spaniards could do a great deal of mischief 
 with the cable. When my advice was asked, I suggested that the 
 simplest and surest way was to officially protest to Great Britain 
 against this violation of neutrality on the part of Spain and this 
 Washington did at once. Within forty-eight horn's the seals of 
 Her Britannic Majesty's Government were placed on the Hong 
 Kong end of the cable and the danger of Spanish communication 
 with the world was stopped. 
 
 This action was all very well — so far as Spain was concerned — 
 but it did not settle the question as to how Commodore Dewey 
 was going to get in telegraphic communication with Washington. 
 Commodore Dewey at first used a despatch boat between Manila 
 and Hong Kong, but it took the good part of a week to send 
 messages. It was of vital importance that telegraphic communi- 
 cation with our naval forces in the Philippines should be estab- 
 
 98 
 
lished, but how this could be accomplished the Government 
 authorities at Washington could not see. 
 
 At a conference with President McKinley, I suggested a 
 solution of the difficulty, viz., to have the Government anchor 
 a junk or hulk on the high seas off Hong Kong and use that as a 
 terminal station for a cable to be laid from Manila. From this 
 station a despatch boat could take the messages to the office in 
 Hong Kong and, thus, no neutrality would be violated and mes- 
 sages to Washington could be transmitted inside of a few hours 
 instead of a week. 
 
 My suggestion was referred to the War Department. That 
 Department thought the proposition a good one, and it was finally 
 taken up by the President and the Cabinet. While the latter 
 were considering the matter favorably, the question came up as 
 to how the Government was to purchase the cable itself. "How 
 much would such a cable cost?" I was asked. "One million 
 dollars," I said. 
 
 Then they informed me that there were no funds out of which 
 this could be used and that, in consequence, it would require a 
 special act of Congress to get the money. One of the Senators 
 present promised to get the required special appropriation from 
 Congress within forty-eight hours, but I pointed out that any 
 such method of getting the money would be impracticable, for 
 the reason that the cable would have to be made in England 
 and the old question of neutrality would come up. I explained 
 that England could not allow any cable to be made in her territory 
 for such a purpose and that if the scheme became a matter of 
 public record, in the Congressional proceedings, Spain would 
 surely hear of it and protest. I showed them that the only prac- 
 ticable way to accomplish their purpose was to order the cable 
 for a private company in South America and then have that 
 Company transfer it to the Government. In this way, I pointed 
 out, it would not be a very difficult matter to make sure that the 
 cable would eventually find its way to Manila. The only ob- 
 stacle, I said, was the matter of paying for the cable, and suggested 
 that this would have to be done through some channels and from 
 some fund not connected with the Government. To find such a 
 means was the dilemma. 
 
 99 
 
In this emergency I turned to the telephone and called up 
 J, Pierpont Morgan and put the whole proposition up to him. 
 Mr. Morgan asked how much it would cost, and I told him one 
 million dollars. Without a moment's hesitation, his answer 
 came back: "Tell Mr. Long, the Secretary of the Navy, he can 
 draw on me for the whole amount provided you will take full 
 charge of the project." 
 
 As a matter of fact, the Government never had to avail itself 
 of Mr. Morgan's offer. The situation at Manila changed. In 
 July came the battle of Santiago, which ended the war, and the 
 cable was never laid. 
 
 I consider that these two experiences of our Government, 
 when at war with Spain, are very live examples of the value of 
 all- American cables. 
 
 In relation to the Manila cable, I feel that the following let- 
 ters from the Navy and War Departments should be inserted, 
 as a matter of record: 
 
 Navy Department, 
 Washington, June 3, 1898. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 In the temporary absence of the Secretary from the Department, 
 I have sent your telegram directly to the President, so that it could 
 be considered immediately. 
 
 In this connection, permit me to confirm our telephone conver- 
 sation of some days ago, extending to you the thanks of the Depart- 
 ment for the valuable suggestions from you from time to time 
 with respect to the Manila cable, and also, through you, its apprecia- 
 tion of the very generous offer of Mr. Morgan in the same connec- 
 tion. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Charles H. Ai.len, 
 Assistant Secretary. 
 
 Mr. James A. Scrymser, 
 
 Pres. Central and South American Telegraph Co., 
 New York City. 
 
 100 
 
War Department, 
 
 Signal Ofpice, 
 Washington, June 23, 1898. 
 My Dear Mr. Scrymser: 
 
 I am sorry to say that nothing has been done either regarding 
 the Manila cable or the cable ship piu-chase. I have quite worn 
 myself out in this line, but so far without avail. 
 
 I am sure that the people of the United States owe you thanks 
 for the energy and professional ability which you have so freely 
 contributed to the solution of this question. 
 
 I am very much crowded, but hope to have an easier time of it, 
 during the coming week. 
 
 Yoiu-s truly, 
 
 A. W. Greeley, 
 Chiej Signal Officer. 
 Mr. James A. Scrymser, President, 
 New York City. 
 
 lOI 
 
Wireless Telegraphy 
 
 ATTENTION has already been called to the urgent and vital 
 necessity of governmental control over cable communica- 
 tion in times of war and, of course, this applies with equal force 
 to governmental jurisdiction over the wireless systems on our 
 shores. 
 
 Some years ago the Telegraph Age published an interview 
 with me on this subject. In the interview, I pointed out that our 
 American Government officials had, seemingly, failed to realize 
 that, in the event of a foreign war, the enemy's fleet could, when 
 still a thousand miles off shore, locate every one of our war ves- 
 sels, and, furthermore, ascertain the defensive position of every 
 seaport, through the use of wireless telegraphy. 
 
 I explained the importance which the Hon. William H. 
 Seward, Secretary of State, under President Lincoln, attached to 
 what is known as the "Marine League," the three-mile limit off 
 shore which in effect prohibits foreigners from erecting a battery 
 within three miles of the upland. Secretary Seward maintained 
 that a cable, being silent and secret in its operation, was many 
 times more dangerous than the battery of an enemy. 
 
 I also called attention to the fact that the Hon. Hamilton 
 Fish, Secretary of State under President Grant, in 1869, threat- 
 ened to send a naval vessel to Duxbury, Mass., with order to 
 tear up the French cable, if landed without his permission, and 
 that not until the exclusive features of the French Company's 
 Concessions were eliminated and full reciprocal rights were granted 
 to American Companies to land cables on the coast of France, was 
 this permission given. 
 
 Further, I emphasized the very important fact that if an 
 American should attempt to build a wireless system in England, 
 France or Germany, he would immediately be seized as a spy 
 and treated as a spy, while in this country, German wireless sys- 
 
 102 
 
terns have been built and operated without licenses, in some cases, 
 according to the statements of the press. 
 
 My interview was called to the attention of the Department 
 of Commerce and Labor, and that Department immediately 
 asked me for further particulars in regard to governmental juris- 
 diction over wireless systems and, particularly, in regard to the 
 reciprocal policy insisted upon by Secretary of State Fish. Upon 
 receipt of the information asked for, the Department of Com- 
 merce and Labor referred the entire matter to the Attorney- 
 General, Hon. George W. Wickersham, for his opinion. 
 
 On November 22, 19 12, Mr. Wickersham rendered an elab- 
 orate opinion. He quoted very fully from the Acts of Congress, 
 having for their object the regulation and control of wireless 
 telegraphy by means of fines, these fines being levied upon all 
 plants installed without a proper license from the Government, 
 the penalty for each offense being a fine of $500. 
 
 In reply to the points raised by me, Mr. Wickersham ruled 
 that inasmuch as the Congress of the United States had failed to 
 pass a law requiring reciprocal conditions for the landing of cables 
 there was no authority for the United States Government to de- 
 mand reciprocal wireless rights. 
 
 It is apparent that Mr. Wickersham's opinion on this recipro- 
 cal policy differs very widely from the opinion held by two of 
 oiu- greatest Secretaries of State, Mr. Seward and Mr. Fish, 
 both of whom held that the three-mile limit off shore was suffi- 
 cient justification for any action which vitally involved the pro- 
 tection and defense of our country. 
 
 The principle of national protection involved in what is known 
 as the "Marine League" is, to my mind, both wise and logical, 
 and I hold that this principle is violated wherever and whenever 
 a foreign wireless telegraph message passes over the three-mile 
 Hmit to or from any point in the United States, by means of a 
 foreign-owned company operating without a license. The trans- 
 mission of such wireless telegraph messages, silent and secret 
 as they are, should certainly be under the sole control of the 
 United States Government, both in times of peace and in times 
 of war. 
 
 103 
 
Attorney-General Wickersham's quotations from the Acts 
 of Congress, attempting to regulate and control wireless teleg- 
 raphy, were interesting. His opinion was rendered in 19 12 
 during the Taft administration and yet we have learned from the 
 press only recently (as I have mentioned) that some wireless 
 organizations have not been licensed as the law requires, and we 
 have learned, too, that several private wireless installations are 
 likewise being operated without licenses. 
 
 Attorney-General Wickersham calls attention to the fact 
 that under the laws all licenses are revocable and that, when 
 issued, they shall specify the ownership and location of each sta- 
 tion and, further, that they shall be issued only to citizens of the 
 United States. Despite these regulations, it is a well known fact 
 that a number of wireless systems are German-owned, although 
 ostensibly transferred to American corporations. Such ques- 
 tionable actions should be investigated and, if the information 
 proves true, the licenses should be revoked in each case. 
 
 We have but recently seen that a German-owned wireless 
 company attempted to enjoin the United States of America from 
 interfering with its operations. Such audacious action of a for- 
 eign-owned company would have been promptly resented in 
 the days of Secretary Seward and Secretary Fish. 
 
 In President Wilson's message to Congress, December 8, 
 1914, he says: 
 
 We have not been negligent of national defense. We are not 
 unmindful of the great responsibility resting upon us. We shall 
 learn and profit by the lesson of every experience and every new 
 circumstance, and what is needed will be adequately done. 
 
 As one humble American citizen, I am wondering why the 
 Government in Washington has not exercised a proper control 
 over wireless telegraphy and why the Government did not at 
 once revoke the license of the foreign wireless company when it 
 attempted to dispute its authority, as undoubtedly Secretaries 
 Seward and Fish would have done. 
 
 In the opinion of Attorney-General Wickersham, it would 
 appear that Secretary Fish should have had a specific Act of Con- 
 gress to justify his drastic treatment of the French Company in 
 1869! Acts of Congress to suit every case are not kept "on 
 
 104 
 
tap" and I have never known of any one excepting Mr. Wicker- 
 sham, to dispute the reciprocal poHcy, inaugurated by President 
 Grant and supported by Secretary Fish. Mr. Wickersham has 
 evidently overlooked the fact that the Monroe Doctrine has 
 never materialized into any formal action by Congress and, yet, 
 the Monroe Doctrine seems to hold quite an important place in 
 the foreign policy of these United States. 
 
 The invasion in this country by foreign telegraph com- 
 panies, under existing conditions, will certainly lead to trouble 
 in the future and the present administration would do well to 
 seriously ponder on the subject of reciprocity as upheld by General 
 Grant. 
 
 105 
 
Landing of Original French Cable Company 
 
 REFERENCE has been made several times to the reciprocal 
 poHcy of the United States Government in regard to the land- 
 ing of foreign cables on our shores. In my article on "Wireless 
 Telegraphy," I have referred to the landing of the French cable at 
 Duxbm-y in 1869. The story of Baron Emil Erlanger, of Paris, 
 who promoted this French Atlantic cable, may be of interest. 
 
 The Baron had obtained from the Emperor, Louis Napoleon 
 III, an exclusive right for fifty years for landing his cable on the coast 
 of France, and journeyed to America to make the necessary 
 landing arrangements at this end. The Baron was a Confederate 
 Government Agent during our Civil War, and was chiefly re- 
 membered in this country as the promoter of the Confederate 
 Government Cotton Loan. 
 
 The French cable scheme was bitterly opposed, from the 
 start, by Cyrus W. Field, the promoter of the Anglo-American 
 Cable Company. Mr. Field's first step was to induce General 
 Grant, then President of the United States, to officially notify 
 the Emperor of France that the French cable could not be landed 
 on American shores unless reciprocal rights were granted to an 
 American Company for French territory. In consequence, the 
 exclusive feature of Baron Erlanger's French Concession was 
 canceled and the Baron probably concluded that he would have 
 no further trouble in landing his cable at the place planned, Dux- 
 bury, on Cape Cod. Mr. Field, however, found a new obstacle 
 to place in the Baron's way, viz., the formal authority of the 
 Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
 
 Somehow the Massachusetts legislators had not forgotten 
 the services of Baron Erlanger when acting as Confederate Gov- 
 ernment Agent for its Cotton Loan and here was an excellent 
 method to punish him, and punish him they did, by refusing to 
 grant the necessary permission to land his cable at Duxbury. 
 The legislators themselves were ably aided in this fight against 
 
 106 
 
Baron Erlanger by numerous lawyers and lobbyists, who were 
 engaged day and night in the endeavor to block the Baron's 
 scheme. 
 
 In the "opposition," also, were the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company and the Franklin Telegraph Company, both of which 
 coveted the landline tolls on messages to and from Europe over 
 the French Cable Company, should it succeed in securing the 
 necessary landing rights. 
 
 It was an anxious time for the Baron, and his associates. 
 Already nearly $4,000,000 had been expended for the cable. 
 The cable ship had cleared from a Etu-opean port, destined for 
 Duxbury, Mass. In desperation, Baron Erlanger's agent came 
 to me and gave me to understand that, although he had spent 
 thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees and otherwise, he could make 
 no headway whatsoever with the Legislature of Massachusetts. 
 He told me that the cable ship was about due at Duxbury, and 
 would have to pay a demurrage of $2,000 per day unless the land- 
 ing rights could be secured at once. 
 
 Naturally, I was most anxious that the French Company 
 should succeed in securing the landing rights and, so, be in a 
 position to compete with the Anglo-American Cable Company, 
 which was charging at that time about one dollar a word on all "^ 
 European messages. A reduction of this rate would, of course, 
 increase the traffic of the International Ocean Telegraph Com- 
 pany, with which I was then connected, to and from Cuba and 
 the other West India Islands. For this reason I planned to se- 
 cure the necessary State landing rights for the French Company. 
 I asked the agent what he could afford to pay to secure the per- 
 mission within one week. He replied that he would willingly 
 pay $10,000. I well knew that he would gladly pay more, but I 
 was so anxious that his Company should succeed at once, I prom- 
 ised to obtain for him the necessary authority. 
 
 There were two men in the State of New Jersey whom I 
 knew I could rely upon. I arranged to meet them in Trenton 
 on a Friday morning and agreed to pay them the $10,000 pro- 
 vided they could quickly and quietly secure the passage of a 
 Bill authorizing the landing of the French cable on the coast 
 of New Jersey within one week. At noon, the following Tues- 
 
 107 
 
day, I received a telegram informing me of the successful passage 
 of the necessary Bill and that it had been signed by the Governor. 
 
 My plan was eminently successful and the anticipated 
 sensation in the ranks of the lobbyists in the Massachusetts 
 Legislature and the Western Union and Franklin Telegraph Com- 
 panies was quickly forthcoming. The lobbyists knew that their 
 long fight was in vain if the French Company could land on the 
 coast of New Jersey and the Telegraph Companies foresaw that 
 the French Cable Company might build its own landlines to New 
 York City and so save all the landline tolls between Duxbury 
 and New York. To me, it was as good as a comic play to behold 
 the disappointment of the lawyers and lobbyists when they found 
 that they had been outflanked, and the fact that they were 
 eventually obliged to aid, rather than oppose, the cable landing 
 of the French cable on the coast of Massachusetts did not add 
 to their joy. 
 
 The Bill, granting permission to land the cable on New Jer- 
 sey soil, was most effective and, finally, the French Cable Com- 
 pany received the permission to land at Duxbury, Mass., with- 
 out the slightest opposition. 
 
 It is interesting to note, also, that within a month the Atlantic 
 cable tariff was reduced from one dollar a word to about twenty- 
 five cents and the reduction proved highly beneficial to our Cuba 
 and West India traffic. 
 
 1 08 
 
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 Xest Me govQct 
 
 The Parkhurst Campaign 
 
 OVER twenty years have elapsed since the Rev. Dr. Charles 
 H. Parkhurst, almost alone, achieved his marvelous victory 
 over Tammany Hall, in strenuous opposition to the police and the 
 entire officialdom of New York City. 
 
 At this later day it is both interesting and instructive to look 
 back at the fight, then waged, and to contemplate the immeasur- 
 able influence which Dr. Parkhurst's victory has had upon the 
 political affairs of this city. 
 
 Dr. Parkhurst has been so persistently denounced and mis- 
 represented by the press and city officials ever since his memorable 
 campaign, that we find that the present generation has inherited 
 the cynicism, opposition and vindictiveness toward him, which 
 prevailed from the beginning of his fight against Tammany Hall, 
 in 1892. Since that fight, over twenty years ago, the people have 
 won some notable victories — the elections of Mayor Strong and 
 Mayor Low, the Fusion victory in 1909, and, also, in 19 13. These 
 victories are, I think, traceable in a very large measure to Dr. 
 Parkhurst. Certainly the previous twenty years, before the Park- 
 hurst campaign, had nothing to show but a continuous Tammany 
 control. 
 
 Dr. Parkhurst was the means of awakening New York City 
 to a very realizing sense of its own unworthiness and the City to- 
 day can "take its hat off" to Charles H. Parkhurst for the revival 
 of oiu- public conscience and the many steps which have been 
 made toward good government. 
 
 If we go back forty years we find that prominent and re- 
 spected citizens openly endorsed Tammany, under the leadership 
 of Boss Tweed and later Boss Croker. Prominent citizens were 
 
 109 
 
then too timid to lend their names to any pubHc opposition to 
 Tammany Hall. After Dr. Parkhurst's campaign, this timidity 
 was a thing of the past, as will be readily seen by a perusal of the 
 splendid Memorial signed by so many of our well known citizens, 
 here quoted in full : 
 
 New York, November, 1894. 
 To Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, D.D. 
 
 New York City. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir: 
 
 Your fellow citizens of New York, united in a com- 
 mon aim to achieve and to preserve municipal integrity and manly 
 uprightness in the discharge of public trusts, are deeply sensible of 
 the debt of gratitude due to you for your three years campaign of dis- 
 interested and heroic effort to ensure Reform in our City Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The impressive popular response shown by the results of 
 the November elections is a direct and noble plaudit, doubtless more 
 gratifying to you than any other reward. But we, as a Committee 
 of your fellow citizens at large and irrespective of all dividing lines, 
 would gladly add some special testimonial to your moral leader- 
 ship, in this great crusade for Municipal Reform; and we would 
 heartily welcome an indication from yourself as to the most accept- 
 able form of such testimonial. 
 
 Henry C. Potter 
 David H. Greer 
 
 Charles Lanier 
 Robert S. Minturn 
 Joseph H. Choate 
 Joel B. Erhardt 
 Abram S. Hewitt 
 Jos. Larocque 
 Charles C. Beaman 
 C. Vanderbilt 
 Chas. Stewart Smith 
 LeG. B. Cannon 
 Horace White 
 A. S. Frissell 
 Morris K. Jesup 
 James T. Kilbreth 
 James A. Garland 
 Horace Porter 
 R. Fulton Cutting 
 J. Augustus Johnson 
 Edward D. Adams 
 
 J. Pierpont Morgan 
 James C. Carter 
 Wheeler H. Peckham 
 Wm. L. Strong 
 Cornelius N. Bliss 
 John S. Kennedy 
 Isaac N. Seligman 
 James H. Dunham 
 J. Gaillard Thomas 
 John A. Stewart 
 John Sloane 
 Anson Phelps Stokes 
 Jno. E. Parsons 
 Chas. H. Godfrey 
 Cleveland H. Dodge 
 H. C. Fahnestock 
 J. Kennedy Tod 
 James Speyer 
 Jacob H. Schiff 
 Gustav H. Schwab 
 Seth Low 
 
 no 
 
Wm. Nelson Cromwell Edw. King 
 
 Geo. F. Baker Wm. B. Homblower 
 
 William H. Pell Everett P. Wheeler 
 
 Charles S. Fairchild George Bliss 
 
 R. W. Gilder Stephen H. Olin 
 
 Saml. C. Blackwell John Claflin 
 
 George A. Morrison E. L. Godkin 
 
 William A. Wheelock John A. Sleicher 
 
 John W. Goff James A. Scrymser 
 
 The foregoing testimonial would not be complete without the 
 publication, also, of the letter received from President Cleveland, 
 as follows: 
 
 Executive Mansion 
 Washington 
 
 Dec. 2, 1894. 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq., 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 At the request of Bishop Potter I enclose to you a copy of 
 a paper addressed to Doctor Parkhurst, which he sent me for my sig- 
 nature. 
 
 The man whom you propose to honor is a grand citizen and 
 deserves all his fellow townsmen can do for him and yet I do not 
 think I ought to sign the paper I return to you. 
 
 I am not a citizen of New York and I am peculiarly situated 
 here. 
 
 Hoping that you will believe that my declination to join 
 you in this movement is solely based upon considerations entirely 
 justifiable, I am. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 Grover Cleveland. 
 
 From all of these supporters it will be seen that Dr. Parkhurst's 
 splendid work was appreciated, and it is clear that the result of his 
 work still lives and that no amount of sneering at Dr. Parkhurst 
 and his methods will, or can, destroy its value. 
 
 I wish that all who are interested in the welfare of New York 
 City could read Dr. Parkhurst's own relation of his campaign, 
 entitled "Our Fight with Tammany," published by Charles 
 Scribner's Sons in 1895. I have neither the time nor the space to 
 quote from the book, but, as a warning to my fellow citizens, I 
 want to call attention to the fact that Dr. Parkhiurst tells us that 
 the whole campaign slumped just as soon as the election was over, 
 
 III 
 
hence my heading of this article: "LEST WE FORGET." Wc 
 are so apt to forget that "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." 
 
 We all recall the fight that was made for a single-headed police 
 commission as against the old method — two " Republicans" (?) 
 and two "Democrats" (?) a so-called "Bi-partisan" board. It has 
 taken nearly twenty years to secure a single-headed pohce control 
 and this, again, is largely due to Dr. Parkhurst. Furthermore, it 
 can be reasonably claimed that the affairs of New York City are 
 to-day infinitely better conducted than they were previously, 
 under Tammany Hall. 
 
 I will here explain the active part Mr. J. Langdon Erving took 
 in the Parkhurst campaign. Mr. Erving was associated with me 
 in business for over twenty years. He consulted with me very 
 fully before offering his services to Dr. Parkhurst. Of course, 
 we both foresaw something of the tremendous sacrifice and the ab- 
 horrent notoriety which would result, but, on the other hand, we 
 realized the vital necessity for a man of the type of Mr. Erving, if 
 Dr. Parkhurst were to accomplish the upheaval at which he aimed. 
 The testimony of a man of unimpeachable integrity and character 
 was invaluable, a life-long New Yorker, a New Yorker for genera- 
 tions back, a man of refinement and a gentleman — such a man was 
 Mr. Erving, and his testimony was bound to succeed in the end, 
 where the testimony of some paid detective would have had 
 little, if any, effect upon the Court and Jury. 
 
 Let me quote what Dr. Parkhurst has to say about Mr. 
 Erving : 
 
 On page 54 of Dr. Parkhurst's book, is the following tribute: 
 
 I was called upon one evening, early in March, '92, by a 
 young man who had recently become a member of my congregation, 
 and whom I had noticed in the church, but whom I had never per- 
 sonally met. Whether he had divined what was in my mind, I do 
 not know to this day, but he said that he had come to tell me that if 
 there was anything he could do to assist me in the enterprise recently 
 undertaken, he was unreservedly at my service. My good friend 
 John Langdon Erving little realized all that was involved in his noble 
 offer, or all that it was going to cause him in the way of criticism and 
 obloquy before his heroic service was completed; but suffice it to say 
 that his offer of assistance was accepted and a general plan of opera- 
 tions outlined that same evening. I cannot let this opportunity pass 
 
 112 
 
of rendering to my friend Erving the tribute of my gratitude. If in 
 connection with this whole warfare there have been words of in- 
 vective and insinuations too dastardly and devilish to be forgiven, 
 either in this world or the world to come, they were words that were 
 spoken upon Erving. His was the manly stuff, however, that took 
 no detriment from calumny, and I can speak no larger word of him 
 than to say that without him, or a man as strong and noble-spirited 
 as he, the efforts initiated in the spring of '92, must have issued in 
 failure. 
 
 I am sure that I shall not be misunderstood, nor criticized, if 
 I make a personal reference to the humble part which I had the 
 privilege of playing in that memorable campaign. 
 
 My part had its beginning on a Monday morning in June, 
 1892. Mr. Erving had returned to my house from the Court on 
 the Saturday previous, in a very discouraged state of mind. On 
 Sunday he complained of illness, so I saw but little of him. On 
 Monday morning my butler reported that Mr. Erving was seriously 
 ill in his bedroom and apparently wandering in his mind, exclaiming 
 from time to time that "the people will not believe us." Upon 
 learning of this, I went to Mr. Erving' s room and found that his 
 condition was as my butler had represented. 
 
 At about nine o'clock Dr. Parkhurst called at my home. 
 Neither Mrs. Scrymser nor I had ever met him. Dr. Parkhurst 
 was shown into the library where Mrs. Scrymser and I were seated 
 and I shall never forget his anxious and troubled look. He said 
 that he had come to inquire for his friend, Mr. Erving, and Mrs. 
 Scrymser told him that Mr. Erving was seriously ill upstairs. 
 Mrs. Scrymser added that she thought his illness was due wholly 
 to the attitude of the press, which had made it appear as if Dr. 
 Parkhurst and Mr. Erving were on trial rather than the criminals 
 whom their affidavits had implicated. 
 
 Upon hearing of Mr. Erving's illness. Dr. Parkhurst sank into 
 a chair, much overcome. After a pause, Mrs. Scrymser said, 
 "Doctor, two-thirds of the people of New York really do think 
 that you and Mr. Erving are on trial. What can we do to help 
 you?" "Anything that you can do will be most heartily appreci- 
 ated; I feel as if the earth was slipping from under my feet," re- 
 plied Dr. Parkhurst. 
 
 After a few more words of conversation, Mrs. Scrymser and I 
 
 113 
 
started our campaign. Within an hour, Mrs. Scrymser had en- 
 gaged Cooper Institute for a public meeting the following Monday 
 night, and had also enlisted the interest of the "Woman's Munici- 
 pal League." The co-operation and active work of this League, 
 comprising some six hundred influential women, was most effective. 
 I went immediately to the office of The Mail and Express, 
 where I saw its proprietor, Elliott F. Shepard. I had arrived just 
 in time: Mr. Shepard was leaving at noon for the far west. He 
 was most responsive to my appeal and straightway called in his 
 editor, John A. Sleicher, and instructed him to publish anything 
 that I desired. I at once assisted in dictating an editorial for that 
 afternoon's edition, using Mrs. Scrymser's remark as a text. The 
 editorial was used and as I think it will be of interest, it is published 
 here in full: 
 
 From The Mail and Express, May ii, 1892: 
 
 TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF NEW YORK 
 
 Two-thirds of the people of this city seem to labor under 
 the false impression that Dr. Parkhtarst and Mr. Langdon Erving 
 are on trial in our courts, instead of the keepers of disorderly houses, 
 whom they have so courageously exposed. 
 
 The facts are these: Dr. Parkhurst preached a sermon in 
 which he charged that District Attorney Nicoll was derelict in the 
 prosecution of evildoers. The charges were strong, the arraignment 
 very severe, and under this pressure Mr. Nicoll went to the Grand 
 Jury. That compliant body, under Mr. Nicoll's influence, under- 
 took to reprimand Dr. Parkhurst for not producing evidence to 
 sustain his sweeping charges. Mr. Nicoll and the blackmailers and 
 the Grand Jury no doubt supposed this would end the matter. But 
 it didn't. 
 
 Dr. Parkhurst is a man of convictions. He determined to 
 secure the necessary evidence. He asked for volunteers, and Mr. 
 Langdon Erving, equally courageous, honorable and sincere in pur- 
 pose, offered his help. They sacrificed their personal comfort and 
 fearlessly entered the abodes of vice and saw the sickening sights of 
 sin. Their evidence was laid before the Grand Jury. It was not in- 
 tended for the public eye, but for the secret session of that body. They 
 had no thought of anything else but to meet the challenge of Dis- 
 trict Attorney Nicoll. 
 
 District Attorney Nicoll, instead of keeping the affidavits of 
 Dr. Parkhurst and Mr. Erving secret as part of the Grand Jury room 
 proceedings, deliberately used them in the prosecution of the keepers 
 
 114 
 
of disreputable houses, thus dragging Dr. Parkhurst and his associate 
 into Court and into public notoriety for the purpose of forever making 
 their task so repellant and odious that no other decent and honorable 
 men would ever again perform such a mission in the cause of justice. 
 This publicity was not intended nor sought for by Dr. Parkhurst and 
 Mr. Erving. It was the result of the District Attorney's action, 
 and the inspiration of that action is far from creditable. 
 
 The courage of Dr. Parkhurst and Mr. Erving resulted in 
 the exposure of Police Department methods, and in a general "shaking 
 up" of officers under the pressure of public opinion. Both the cour- 
 ageous exposers of vice have been threatened with personal violence, 
 but, in the face of threats and intimidation, both have insisted on 
 fighting the battle out on the line of their convictions. 
 
 Enough has been shown to verify the charge of this paper 
 that the police have been used for blackmailing purposes. The 
 prosecution of one or two poor women for keeping dens of vice and 
 their conviction is not the only result of Dr. Parkhurst's efforts. 
 They have demonstrated that the police protect the dives and do it 
 for pay. The Police Department is responsible for the vice and sin 
 which abound in this city. They are the ones who are chiefly con- 
 cerned in the injury of Dr. Parkhurst and Mr. Erving. The time has 
 come for the good people of this city to hold up the hands of these two 
 splendid Christian men. The time has come for a public meeting 
 which will declare in a voice of thunder against the blackmailing 
 methods of a political police organization and in favor of cleaning 
 out the dives and the infamous resorts which threaten the morals of 
 young and old. 
 
 Who will lead this great movement? It means the pro- 
 tection of our youth from defilement. It means the protection of 
 the homes, particularly the homes of the poor, from the visits of the 
 vile tempters. Dr. Parkhurst should not stand alone. He, with 
 Mr. Erving's splendid assistance, has begun the noble work. Let 
 the good people of New York take it up and finish it. It is not a work 
 only for the rich and influential. The poor, the workingmen, the 
 toilers all have deep interest in it. We appeal to oiu- citizens to take 
 up this matter vigorously, earnestly and at once. If our homes can- 
 not be protected from pollution, if vice and sin, protected by a black- 
 mailing police, are to control and prevail, the welfare of the people 
 is truly in jeopardy. 
 
 This editorial was the first gun in the Parkhurst campaign. 
 
 From the office of The Mail and Express I went to the office 
 of The Evening Post, and there had a talk with its editor, 
 Horace White. 
 
 I explained to him the situation as clearly as I could. In 
 
 115 
 
reply, Mr. White said that Mr. Godkin had recently sailed for 
 Europe and that before he sailed it was decided that the Parkhurst 
 movement was "too dirty" for The Post to publish and that in 
 consequence it was thought best to drop it altogether. I told Mr. 
 White that he was grossly mistaken and predicted that before the 
 end of the week The Post would have to take back all that it 
 had said against Dr. Parkhurst and that it would then come out 
 squarely in his support. Mr. White replied that that was im- 
 possible. 
 
 The following Friday my prediction came true, The Post 
 apologized for the mistake it had made and called upon all good 
 citizens to support Dr. Parkhurst. 
 
 Mr. White has told me in recent years that he has thought of 
 our interview thousands of times. 
 
 After interviewing The Post, I called on Mr. Rowland, the 
 Manager of The New York Herald. Mr. Rowland explained, 
 when I had concluded, that it was necessary to cable Mr. Bennett 
 for his decision in the matter. I asked him when he did so to 
 mention my name, because of the fact that my relations with Mr. 
 Bennett, in a business way, had been quite intimate. Before the 
 end of the week The Herald came into line and strongly sup- 
 ported Dr. Parkhurst throughout his campaign. 
 
 By the time Monday night arrived, the good element of the 
 city was well aroused and, with the exception of the early Civil 
 War meetings, I have never known a more enthusiastic gathering 
 than was held that night in old Cooper Institute. That meeting 
 will long be remembered, and I am proud to have been connected 
 with its inception, as evidenced by the following note : 
 
 City Vigilance League. 
 
 New York, May 19, 1892. 
 Mr. James A. Scrymser. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Your check for $ is hereby acknowledged and 
 
 on behalf of the Committee I thank you most heartily. It was at 
 your suggestion that this meeting was called and it bids fair to prove 
 an overwhelming success. The "call" has been answered by over a 
 thousand of our most prominent citizens Your check is the only 
 financial assistance we have received for this purpose and I am in- 
 structed to express our gratitude accordingly. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 J. N. Hallock, 
 116 Chairman. 
 
As an indication of the suspicion and gross misunderstanding 
 of the early work of Dr. Parkhurst, and his fight against the poHce, 
 I might mention that during the first week I prepared a Resolution, 
 endorsing Dr. Parkhurst's work, and submitted the same to the 
 presiding officer of the City Club— then, as now, a powerful or- 
 ganization — in the hopes that it might be adopted by that Club. 
 This presiding officer was a prominent lawyer and thoroughly in 
 sympathy with everything which had for its object the pubhc 
 good in the City of New York. You may imagine my surprise 
 at his action when the Resolution was handed to him. With an 
 expression of thorough disgust, he read it and then held the Reso- 
 lution between the tips of his fingers, at a distance, saying, "Take 
 it away, take it away, its subject is too nasty." 
 
 I should not have told this story if there had not been another 
 side to it. Shortly after this time, my good friend, the presiding 
 officer of the City Club, became an ardent supporter of Dr. Park- 
 hurst, and his name is among the distinguished names who signed 
 the Memorial, printed on page no. 
 
 There are any number of instances connected directly and in- 
 directly with the Parkhurst campaign which I might relate. The 
 lack of space, however, forbids. When the public discovered that 
 it was a success there were many accessions to the ranks and many 
 were anxious to "climb on the band wagon." One notable in- 
 stance of this is evidenced by the following letter from Dr. Park- 
 hurst and my reply thereto: 
 
 No. 133 East 35th Street, 
 
 New York, Sept. 25, 1894. 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq., 
 
 39 Wall Street, City. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 This will introduce to you the bearer, my assistant. 
 Rev. Chauncey W. Goodrich. 
 
 I will merely outline the matter upon which I am going to 
 Eisk him to speak with you : I am exceedingly anxious that if possible, 
 arrangements should be made whereby Archbishop Ireland of St. Paul 
 can be induced to speak in this City prior to election, upon matters 
 of municipal government. I had an interview with him last May, 
 with this object in view; he received me not only courteously, but 
 most kindly, and expressed himself as being in absolute sympathy 
 with all that was being undertaken in behalf of better municipal 
 
 117 
 
government. He referred to the delicacy with which any action of 
 his would have to be taken, in view of the fact that if he spoke here he 
 would be within the limits of another man's diocese. He nevertheless 
 engaged to hold it as an open question and expected to hear from me 
 again, either at the end of September, or in the beginning of October. 
 It was his impression at that time, that if a properly worded invi- 
 tation, with suitable indorsement, were sent to him, he could somehow 
 find it in his way to accept such invitation. I have learned from 
 him, however, within a few days, that the matter will have to be 
 approached with somewhat more of indirection. The letter which 
 conveys to me that information will be put in your hands by Mr. 
 Goodrich; I submit the case in its present posture. 
 
 We cannot afford to leave any stone unturned: the Arch- 
 bishop's influence is almost incalculably great; all of us, I think, who 
 know him, or have any intelligent knowledge in regard to him, have 
 confidence in his character, in the integrity of his purpose and in the 
 honesty of his devotion to American institutions. 
 
 May I ask you to consider the case as it stands at present, 
 and to express yourself with as much freedom as you will, to the 
 bearer? 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 C. H. Parkhurst. 
 
 37 Wall Street, 
 New York, Sept. 27, 1894. 
 Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, 
 
 New York. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 Referring to your letter of September 25 th, and my 
 conversation with the Rev. Chauncey W. Goodrich, respecting the 
 advisability of inviting Archbishop Ireland of St. Paul to speak in 
 this city, prior to election, upon matters of municipal government, I 
 have to say that I do not approve of it. 
 
 I understand from Mr. Goodrich that Father Ducey is 
 cautiously urging the issue of this invitation to Archbishop Ireland. 
 As I view the situation in the City of New York, I believe that a 
 large majority of the Democratic voters are Roman Catholics; cer- 
 tainly a very large majority of the saloon-keepers, office holders and 
 criminals are Roman Catholics, and yet I cannot recall any time when 
 the Roman Catholic Church, or any of its local Bishops have taken 
 a decided stand for political reform, or even endorsed the work of re- 
 formers. I doubt very much if any prominent member of that 
 Church approved of your efforts until recently. 
 
 It is characteristic of the inside managers of the Roman 
 Catholic Church to put forward a prominent man when it sees a change 
 coming. But why bring a man from Minnesota to say what New 
 
 118 
 
York needs? In my judgment you will do just as good work without 
 the assistance of that Church and its Priests, and if successful, which 
 I believe you will be, you will not have to share the glory with those 
 who should have aided you in the beginning. 
 
 I do not share in your high opinion of Archbishop Ireland's 
 devotion to American institutions. The present bad condition of 
 the Public Schools throughout the State of New York, particularly 
 in Brooklyn, New York City and Buffalo, is largely owing to the 
 policy set forth in MuUer's Book and endorsed by Archbishop Ireland 
 voluntarily. 
 
 I have thought it best to express my views in this form and so 
 avoid any misunderstanding arising through my conversation with 
 the Rev. Mr. Goodrich. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 James A. Scrymser. 
 
 I might explain that Archbishop Ireland came to New York 
 and made a determined effort to take an active part in the Park- 
 hnrst election campaign. It was decided that he should not appear 
 on the platform at the public meeting which was to be held in 
 Carnegie Hall. At that meeting, President Harrison presided. 
 Somehow, I never knew how, Archbishop Ireland managed to get 
 a seat on the platform, uninvited, but the Chairman was warned 
 that the program was full and, in consequence, Archbishop Ireland 
 was not to be allowed to speak. The upper gallery was packed 
 with a crowd of his admirers and there were loud cries for a speech 
 from him. The Chairman, however, firmly held his ground and 
 the Archbishop was not permitted to take part in the meeting. 
 
 This Carnegie Hall meeting immediately preceded the election 
 at which William L. Strong was chosen Mayor of New York. 
 After the election, I am told upon good authority. Archbishop 
 Ireland called upon the Treasurer of the Committee of Seventy 
 and intimated as he had come from the Far West, he considered 
 that he was entitled to some compensation for the part he had 
 taken in the campaign. He was told, my informant adds, that the 
 Committee of Seventy had no knowledge of his having been re- 
 tained, nor were they aware of his having contributed toward the 
 success of the campaign in any way. 
 
 Some years after, there was a lively controversy between 
 Archbishop Corrigan and Father Ducey, of New York. In many 
 
 119 
 
respects this controversy was a sequel to Archbishop Ireland's in- 
 trusion, to which I have referred. The crux of the Corrigan- 
 Ducey controversy, in my opinion, is in a paragraph in the letter 
 which Father Ducey wrote to "His Excellency, the Most Rev. M. 
 A. Corrigan, D.D., Archbishop of New York," under date of No- 
 vember 17, 1894 (I quote from the New York Herald, November 
 23, 1894) reading: 
 
 Had the Church, through church men, openly acted with 
 courage in opposing corruptions and corrupters of this great city, the 
 Catholic Church would have glory throughout the world. Now, Dr. 
 Parkhurst has won! 
 
 The foregoing leads me to digress a little. I learned much of 
 "politics" in those days and a story which came to me upon ex- 
 cellent authority, even though a digression, might here be cited. 
 It appertains to a certain well known Archbishop from the West, 
 who was successful in raising over $60,000 with the assistance of a 
 number of "good Repubhcans" in this State. I am told that the 
 money was raised for the purpose of taking up the Archbishop's 
 notes, which had been given for the purchase of certain real estate- 
 a speculation which had involved the cleric to the extent of the 
 money named. The story was that the "good Republicans" took 
 over the real estate, organized a company and used the proceeds 
 from the sale of stock to take up the notes mentioned. I have 
 reason to believe that the subscribers to that stock have never 
 received any dividends and I doubt very much whether the stock 
 has any marketable value. 
 
 ^ To return to the Parkhurst campaign, $60,000, mentioned in 
 my digression, seems a large amount when compared with the sum 
 we were able to raise for a Memorial to Dr. Parkhurst. After the 
 greatest amount of effort and backed by the best citizenship of 
 New York, we succeeded in raising only $28,959.57. The corre- 
 spondence with Dr. Parkhurst in relation thereto will, I am sure, 
 be found of much interest. 
 
 First, let me quote in full Dr. Parkhurst' s reply to the Memo- 
 rial which we sent to him (printed on page no). 
 
 120 
 
No. 133 East 35TH Street, 
 New York, December 11, 1894. 
 
 The Right Rev. Henry C. Potter, 
 J. PiERPONT Morgan, Esq., 
 Hon. John W. Gofp, 
 
 and Associates. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 You will appreciate the delicacy of the situation in 
 which I am placed by your kind and affecting communication just re- 
 ceived. The victory of November 6th and the love and confidence 
 of my fellow-citizens are more than ample reward for all the services 
 I have been able to render: Nor ought it to be forgotten that while 
 I had a part, and a disagreeably conspicuous part, in initiating the 
 movement in our City, it is not by my efforts, but by the efforts of 
 great numbers working in concerted consecration of purpose, that 
 that movement has been brought to its splendid consummation. It 
 hardly need be said to you, therefore, that if it lies in your hearts to 
 show, by any added means, the cordiality of your regard, such demon- 
 stration would require to take a shape that would not even be sug- 
 gested of personal enrichment to myself. 
 
 If I am to answer your question as frankly as it is frankly 
 asked, I should have to say that no action on your part would seem 
 to me apposite which did not look in the direction of helping to es- 
 tablish and perpetuate the municipal results already secured. The 
 success of November 6th needs to be made permanent. My own 
 efforts in that direction will be put forth primarily through the 
 agency of the City Vigilance League, an organization which has been 
 in existence now for two years, which has established a specific basis 
 of operation in each of the thirty Assembly Districts of the Citj'-, and 
 considers so much municipal success as it has already helped to 
 achieve rather the beginning than the end of its hopes. The League 
 is mortgaged to no sect and to no school of politics : its members are 
 not seeking office, and we are bound by the terms of our constitution 
 to put forward no candidates for office. Our aim is to acquaint our- 
 selves with our city, to study i'.s needs, to publish existing abuses 
 whatever may be the party or whoever may be the man that may be 
 responsible for them, and to stimulate, especially among the young 
 men, both of our native and foreign population, that understanding of 
 municipal interests that shall help to make the municipal ballot in- 
 telligent, and that appreciation of civic duties that shall help to render 
 the municipal ballot clean and honest. In a word, the League 
 represents the continuance of that straight line of rectitude and in- 
 dividual self-regardlessness needed in order to win the victory of 
 November, and just as much needed in order to render the fruits of 
 that victory an abiding possession. 
 
 121 
 
This League needs a local habitation, sufficiently central 
 to be easy of access from all quarters of the town; sufficiently com- 
 modious to meet the growing requirements of its multiplying mem- 
 bership and enlarging interests. 
 
 The above is, of course, submitted to you only as a sug- 
 gestion, to be accepted or rejected according to the promptings of 
 your larger and yoiu- combined wisdom. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 C. H. Parkhurst. 
 
 When the money which I have mentioned was raised, Dr. 
 Parkhurst was formally notified in the following letter : 
 
 New York, May 3, 1895. 
 The Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, D.D. 
 
 New York. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 As members of the Advisory Committee of the Dr. 
 Parkhurst Testimonial, we now have to inform you, in accordance 
 with the enclosed account of J. Langdon Erving, Treasiu-er, that 
 there is a balance of $28,959.59 in his hands this day and we desire 
 to close the account. 
 
 This sum represents the proceeds of contributions received 
 by this committee in response to our appeal to the public of December 
 10, 1894, soliciting a popular tribute in recognition of your three 
 years' previous effort for municipal reform, already approved and 
 seconded by the phenomenal success attained in the city elections of 
 November 6th. 
 
 We cordially appreciate yoiu- assent to such a tribute con- 
 ditioned upon its taking a shape not even suggestive of personal en- 
 richment to yourself, and intimating that it be applied to the main- 
 tenance of the City Vigilance League. 
 
 We will be glad to place in your name as trustee this tribute 
 of our fellow citizens in order that the City Vigilance League shall 
 be maintained in accordance with a deed of trust, subject to such 
 precautions and limitations as in your judgment will best subserve 
 your object — the attainment and establishment of municipal reform. 
 
 In hearty sympathy with your design, 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Horace Porter, 
 Edward King, 
 Charles Lanier, 
 James A. Scrymser, 
 J. Kennedy Tod, 
 Advisory Committee, Dr. Parkhurst Testimonial. 
 
 Dr. Parkhurst replied to this letter as follows: 
 
 122 
 
No. 133 East 35TH Street, 
 
 New York, May 20, 1895. 
 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq., 
 
 General Horace Porter, and others. 
 
 Members of the Advisory Committee of the Dr. Parkhurst Testimonial. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge your communication 
 of the 3rd instant and to express to you my appreciation of the service 
 which, as an Advisory Committee, you have consented to assume in 
 the matter of the Memorial Fund. 
 
 Permit me to convey through you to the kind donors who 
 have made me their debtor an acknowledgment of obligation both in 
 my own behalf and, more particularly, in behalf of the City Vigilance 
 League and the great cause of municipal reform which that League 
 represents. I cordially accept the trust which it is your proposition 
 to commit to me and will discharge its responsibilities in accordance 
 with the intention indicated by your letter and prescribed by my 
 reply of December 11, 1894. 
 
 In my reply above referred to occurs the statement that 
 "the League represents the continuance of that straight line of recti- 
 tude and individual self-regardlessness needed in order to win the vic- 
 tory of November and just as much needed in order to render the 
 fruits of that victory an abiding possession." 
 
 A straight line is exceedingly straight. If we are quick to 
 detect respects in which it has been deviated from, we are just as quick 
 to recognize the forward steps that have been taken and the gain that 
 has been made. But whatever the construction which we may put 
 upon the present situation, it is evident that we are, as yet, only at 
 the beginning of a long, hard, and uncompromising fight for munici- 
 pal home rule and for the administration of municipal affairs by 
 men of unimpeachable integrity, who will determine their policy by 
 the requirements of the city and who will treat the intrusion of par- 
 tisan schemes as an intolerable impertinence. 
 
 It is upon this ground that the City Vigilance League is es- 
 tablished and along this line that it will work, and in its behalf, I 
 repeat my expression of indebtedness to all, of whatever religious or 
 political faith, who by their kindly and generous contributions to 
 the Memorial Fund have helped to facilitate the work of the League 
 and to encourage it in its piu-suit of those ends so dear to the heart 
 of every man, who loves his city for its own sake. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 C. H. Parkhxjrst. 
 
 I do not think that I can close this article on Dr. Parkhurst's 
 campaign in any better way than by copying an editorial from 
 
 123 
 
The Evening Post of New York, November lo, 1894, after the 
 election of Mayor Strong. I quote it in full : 
 
 Few people are aware (because they have short memories) 
 how much Mr. De Lacey NicoU has inadvertently contributed to 
 the tremendous overthrow of Tammany. 
 
 In the month of February, 1892, the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst 
 preached a sermon in which he said that the District Attorney was 
 not doing his duty, that well-known violators of the law went un- 
 punished, and that the only conceivable reason was that they had a 
 "pull" of some kind on the public authorities. Mr. Nicoll was at 
 this time the District Attorney. He brought Dr. Parkhurst's sermon 
 to the attention of a Tammany grand jury, and this discerning body 
 instead of indicting the law-breakers, sent for Dr. Parkhurst and 
 asked him what he meant. He replied that he had spoken only from 
 public rumor, but that he believed that what he said was true. The 
 grand jury thereupon passed a public censure upon him, and the word 
 was freely passed around that Dr. Parkhurst would be driven out of 
 the city. 
 
 Being thus challenged. Dr. Parkhurst addressed himself to 
 the task of procuring evidence that would be admissible even before 
 a Tammany jury. His first adventure was an unsavory one, but 
 everybody can see now that it was necessary. The facts that he and 
 Mr. Langdon Erving were enabled to lay before the grand jury were 
 so much worse than thej^ had expected to find that something must 
 needs be done by the District Attorney. A prosecution of the keepers 
 of the disreputable houses followed, and it was made very hot for 
 Parkhurst and Erving, who were called into court from day to day 
 and paraded in the newspapers till it seemed to most people as though 
 they were really the ones on trial. But it was established that 
 blackmailing of the disreputable women by the police was one of the 
 regular features of the business. Parkhurst was now getting his 
 innings, but he had only begun. The fight has gone on from that 
 day to this, with an ever-increasing volume of testimony and an 
 ever-rising tide of public indignation. 
 
 Mr. Nicoll got tired and withdrew, and, in the language of 
 the poet of the Sierras, "the subsequent proceedings interested him 
 no more." He gave way to Mr. Fellows, and resumed his private 
 practice, but the battle went on all the same until last Tuesday, when 
 the thundering victory for decent and honest government took place. 
 Mr. Nicoll made himself largely responsible for the result by "waking 
 up the wrong passenger." If he had not laid that sermon before 
 the grand jury, and if that complacent body had not censured Dr. 
 Parkhurst for preaching it, very likely Tammany would still be in con- 
 
 124 
 
trol of this metropolis. Mr. Nicoll can now see the significance of the 
 Presbyterian hymn which says: 
 
 "O Lord, on what a slender thread 
 "Hang everlasting things." 
 
 Note by Author 
 
 T 
 
 HK foregoing article was submitted to Dr. Parkhurst, for his 
 criticism. The following letter was received in response: 
 
 HOTEL ANSONIA 
 73RD Street and Broadway, 
 New York City. 
 
 Nov. 30, 1914. 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq., 
 66 Broadway, 
 City. 
 My Dear Mr. Scrymser: 
 
 I have read your historical sketch with gratification 
 and with grateful surprise. There is nothing to be added to it and 
 nothing subtracted; and no emendations. The determining part 
 which you played at the psychological moment the public little sus- 
 pected. The "Monday morning in June" has always been a pre- 
 eminently bright spot in my memory of the two years' struggle. 
 And as for Langdon Erving, too much prominence cannot possibly 
 be given to the moral heroism evinced by him all the way through. 
 I trust poor Nicoll will have an opportunity to read at least the 
 closing paragraph. Fellows (Nicoll's successor) would have been 
 too keen to commit so far-reaching a blunder. 
 
 Yours with warm esteem and grateful regard, 
 
 (Signed) C. H. PARKHxmsT. 
 
 125 
 
Public Schools in New York 
 
 IN 1894 I was Vice-President of the New York Association for 
 Improving the Condition of the Poor. At a meeting of the 
 Board of that Association, I read a cHpping from the New York 
 World to the effect that there were, at that time, ten thousand 
 children in the City of New York (Borough of Manhattan) who 
 could not obtain sittings in the public schools. 
 
 A School Inspector, a member of the Board, promptly denied 
 the correctness of the World's statement and stoutly maintained 
 that there were ample accommodations for the children of school 
 age in the public school buildings of New York. 
 
 Despite the disclaimer of the School Inspector, it seemed to 
 me that the statement of The World called for some action by 
 our Board and, accordingly, I offered a motion that a special com- 
 mittee be appointed to thoroughly investigate the true condition 
 in regard to the seating capacity of the public schools. The 
 motion was carried and the special committee appointed, I being 
 made its Chairman. The day following my appointment, I called 
 at the office of the Board of Education and there had an interview 
 with the Auditor of the Board, Major Balch. I explained what I 
 wanted but the Major replied that, under the rules of the Board of 
 Education, he was not permitted to discuss such questions in the 
 offfce. He generously volunteered, however, to call at my house 
 and give me some information on the subject. 
 
 He dined with us a few evenings later and we discussed the 
 question of school accommodations very fully. Major Balch 
 brought with him an official statement which Mayor Grant 
 had published on the subject. I found the statement some- 
 what vague, and I judged, from my conversation with Major 
 Balch, that the reports and estimates which had been laid before 
 the Board of Education, for the Board's information, were mainly 
 mere guesswork. 
 
 It was clear to me that Major Balch was convinced that, in- 
 
 126 
 
stead of ten thousand, there were at least one hundred thousand 
 children at that time who could not be accommodated in the public 
 schools. Major Balch told me that during the entire two terms of 
 Mayor Grace only eight thousand sittings had been added to the 
 school system, despite the fact that statistics of the Health De- 
 partment showed that the natural annual growth of the school 
 population had been, for several years, over ten thousand. The 
 Major told me that both in Boston and in Chicago a school census 
 had been taken annually for a number of years and that New York, 
 up to that time, had never taken a school census. I learned after- 
 wards that the cost of such a census in Boston was about ^3,000 and 
 in Chicago, less than $12,000. 
 
 Personally, I gathered considerable information upon the 
 subject, for inclusion in our Committee's report to the Association. 
 The information all tended to show that there were, at that time, 
 over one hundred thousand children in the city who could not be 
 accommodated in the public schools. 
 
 The data which I had secured from Major Balch, and from 
 other sources, were finally submitted to a committee of influential 
 gentlemen, who were astounded at the disclosures. Together, we 
 arranged for a meeting at Carnegie Hall to give proper publicity 
 to the matter. The meeting was a success and proved to be a 
 mighty force in awakening the pubhc to a knowledge of the true 
 condition of affairs. Hon. James C. Carter presided and, upon 
 assuming the duties of Chairman, made a telling address and an 
 appeal in behalf of the public schools of New York. He was 
 followed by Rev. Dr. James M. King, Hon. Frederick W. Holls, 
 Bishop Andrews and, finally, Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, ex-Mayor of 
 New York. 
 
 Mayor Hewitt made a speech quite up to his high-water mark. 
 There was one stinging epigram in it. Speaking of the children 
 shut out of the public schools and growing up in ignorance, he 
 said: "They are being prepared for a career of crime — or politics." 
 There was a little pathos in Mr. Hewitt's voice as he boasted that 
 he was a public school boy — had never attended any other — -and 
 that he had won admission to the grammar school of Columbia 
 College as a prize boy and had won also a public school scholarship 
 in Columbia College. "Not as an act of charity," he passionately 
 declared, "but as an assertion of my right." 
 
 127 
 
At the meeting in question sub-committees were appointed, 
 composed of Hon. Levi P. Morton, Hon. James C. Carter, Hon. 
 William L. Strong, Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, R. Fulton Cutting, 
 J. Augustus Johnson, Rev. Dr. James M. King, Charles Loring 
 Brace, Dorman B. Eaton, William H. Parsons, William Fellowes 
 Morgan, Wheeler H. Peckham, Rev. Wm. R. Huntington, D.D., 
 Cornelius N. Bliss and many others of like prominence. Through 
 the powerful influence of these well-known citizens, wide-spread 
 interest was awakened, which continues to this day, in behalf of 
 our public schools. 
 
 Hugh J. Grant was Mayor of New York at this time and I 
 imagine that he did not find much comfort in reading the accounts 
 of the meeting. Progress was slow in Mayor Grant's adminis- 
 tration, but when Grant was succeeded by William L. Strong we 
 knew that earnest efforts would be made to better conditions. 
 Mayor Strong was my neighbor at Seabright and I had frequent 
 opportunities to discuss with him this matter of public school ac- 
 commodations. He became greatly interested in the subject from 
 the start and one of his earliest official acts was to order a school 
 census to be taken by the police. Of course, there was strenuous 
 opposition to the use of the police for this purpose and much 
 "righteous indignation" over the expense involved — for blanks, 
 stationery and pencils! Mayor Strong announced that he would 
 personally pay all of these expenses out of his own pocket and this 
 he did later — bills to the amount of $ 1,000 as I now recall. 
 
 Naturally, a census taken by the police could not be absolutely 
 accurate; the result showed, however, that the Auditor of the 
 Board of Education was quite correct in his estimates and con- 
 firmed my surmise that the shortage of accommodations in the 
 public schools of New York City largely exceeded one hundred 
 thousand sittings. 
 
 The first official school census taken in New York was in the 
 year 1895 and was the result of the new law requiring the taking 
 of a school census every two years, passed mainly through the ef- 
 forts of the New York Association for Improving the Condition 
 of the Poor. This official census fully substantiated the census 
 taken by the police. By the official census, it was found, if I 
 remember correctly, that there were fifty thousand children be- 
 
 128 
 
tween the ages of eight and sixteen who could not have been ac- 
 commodated in the pubHc schools if a compulsory attendance law 
 were in force. Adding to this figure the number of children be- 
 tween five and seven years of age, there would have been a total 
 population of children of school age in excess of accommodations 
 estimated at one hundred and thirty-three thousand children. 
 The Board of Managers all realized that it was useless to fight 
 poverty when the children of the poor were thus neglected. 
 
 Mayor Strong was most active in his efforts to provide 
 sufficient sittings for all of the children of school age. During his 
 administration, appropriations of many million dollars were made 
 to this end and like large appropriations have been made ever 
 since. I am told that the total amount appropriated for new pub- 
 lic schools, from the time of Mayor Strong to the present, amounts 
 to millions of dollars. Notwithstanding this enormous expendi- 
 ture, we read in the press every year that accommodations are 
 still inadequate and that many scholars can be cared for only half 
 a day. 
 
 The City of New York and, particularly, the boys and girls 
 of New York, owe an immense debt of gratitude to Mayor Strong. 
 His interest in the public school system of New York and his work 
 to better conditions have never been appreciated. If the public 
 schools had been forced to depend upon Tammany's support, it 
 is probable that tens of thousands of children would have been 
 deprived of the education which the American public school system 
 guarantees to them. I count it an especial privilege, in this book 
 of a few personal reminiscences, to call to mind the great service 
 which William L. Strong, as Mayor, rendered to the people of New 
 York, and I only regret that those services cannot be given the 
 full publicity which they deserve. I repeat, that Mayor Strong 
 was most active in his efforts to provide sufficient sittings for all 
 of the children and am glad to "put in the record" a letter which 
 I received from Mayor Strong: 
 
 City of New York, 
 Office of the Mayor, 
 
 November 27, 1896. 
 
 Dear Mr. Scrymser: 
 
 Referring to the conversation on the occasion of your 
 
 Committee's recent call upon me at the City Hall, in the matter 
 
 129 
 
of public schools, I write to supplement it and explain more fully my 
 ideas in the matter of providing ample and suitable school accommo- 
 dations for all children who desire to attend. And in doing this I 
 am fully sensible of the very keen interest which you have always 
 manifested in the work of the various charitable organizations 
 throughout the City, and of the splendid results accomplished through 
 these agencies. 
 
 The recent letter I addressed to the chm-ches of this City, 
 through their pastors and trustees, had a double purpose. First: I 
 sought to provide immediate accommodations for all the school chil- 
 dren in this City, and the second and no less important reason in my 
 mind was to arouse the interest of our citizens throughout the 
 churches and elsewhere to the vital necessity of this City's providing 
 such thorough school facilities that no child might be deprived of the 
 benefits of our common school system. 
 
 It is perfectly apparent that to provide sufi&cient school 
 accommodations will necessitate an increased expenditure of the 
 City's money above what it has been customary to make during 
 recent years. It is not unlikely that such an expenditure would in- 
 crease the tax rate. Nor, on the other hand, is it a debatable propo- 
 sition that the city of New York must not fall behind other cities in 
 the respect that it can and should furnish not only the physical ac- 
 commodations necessary for housing every child of a school age, but 
 maintain a system of education second to none. I believe that in 
 pursuing such a course it would, in fact, be economical for the City, 
 as it would rob the almshouses and charitable institutions of many 
 of their inmates, and establish a feeling of pride and progress in the 
 rising generation that would make them self-respecting and self- 
 supporting. 
 
 Until the last day of my administration, and even thereafter, 
 I intend in every possible way to keep the subject of otu" public 
 schools before our citizens, and to leave no effort unmade to make the 
 school buildings and the school system of New York what it should 
 be: first and foremost in the country. 
 
 In such a line of conduct I know I have yoiu" support, and 
 believe that these efforts will commend themselves to every thought- 
 ful conscientious and patriotic citizen. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 W. L. Strong, Mayor. 
 James A. Scrymser, Esq., Chairman. 
 
 Many wondered at the time why such indifference was shown 
 to the welfare of the children of school age and why proper ac- 
 commodation for all of the children was not provided. 
 
 130 
 
Over one hundred thousand children deprived of an education ! 
 If these children could not be properly provided for, where were 
 they to turn? Well, from subsequent events, I judge that it was 
 planned to send many of them to the parochial schools and to give 
 to the latter certain financial support, which the public schools 
 had failed to receive, prior to the election of Mayor Strong. As an 
 evidence of this, let me cite the fact that the Rev. Dr. James M. 
 King, who had gone to Albany as an agent of our Special Com- 
 mittee to promote a School Census Bill for all of the large cities in 
 the State of New York, accidentally discovered a most ingenious 
 scheme of legislation, intended to benefit the Parochial Schools. 
 
 It was in early December that Dr. King discovered the two 
 Bills in the Legislature, to which I refer. The first Bill provided 
 for an appropriation of State funds to be disbiu-sed in all school 
 districts where the public school accommodations were found to be 
 insufficient! The appropriation was to be upon a per capita basis, 
 figured on the average annual cost of each pupil in the public 
 schools for the year previous. The second Bill was a compulsory 
 attendance act, providing that all school children of school age 
 should be compelled, from the first of January next, to apply for 
 school sittings. It is unnecessary to point out that this well 
 planned scheme, to call it by no other name, would have met 
 with the approval of the public, the latter probably being willing 
 to accept parochial schools rather than no schools at all. For- 
 tunately this ingenious scheme was discovered in time, and, as 
 will be seen, was defeated. 
 
 It was about this time that the Hon. Levi P. Morton was over- 
 whelmingly elected Governor of New York, on the Republican 
 ticket. At that election the voters authorized the holding of a 
 Constitutional Convention. Among the New York City delegates 
 to this convention were Hon. Joseph H. Choate, Hon. Klihu Root, 
 Hon. John Bigelow and others of prominence. The attention of 
 the convention was called to the legislative scheme which I have 
 mentioned, allowing the Parochial Schools to receive State money 
 by authority of the State Legislature. 
 
 Our representative, the Rev. Dr. King, appeared before the 
 convention and presented the matter so forcibly and so ably that 
 a proposed amendment to the Constitution was prepared, pro- 
 
 131 
 
hibiting the use of public moneys for either sectarian or charitable 
 societies. The meetings of the Convention were, in consequence, 
 besieged by priests from all over the State and these priests did 
 everything possible to prevent the adoption of anything which 
 would interfere with the proposed State appropriation for sec- 
 tarian schools or charities. 
 
 I have been told by those who were present at the Convention 
 that the original amendment, which included charities, was doomed 
 to defeat and that only through the skilful action of the Chairman, 
 Mr. Choate, and Mr. Root, on the floor, was the proposed amend- 
 ment re-committed and finally reported with the charities feature 
 eliminated. The re-drafted amendment was confined exclusively 
 to the prohibition of the use of State moneys for sectarian schools, 
 and, even then, was adopted by only a bare majority of the dele- 
 gates. It was a fight and we were successful but by a mighty 
 slender margin. 
 
 Hon. Frederick W. Holls was the author of the amendment to 
 the Constitution. The clause read: 
 
 (From the Amended New York State Constitution.) 
 
 Article IX. Section i. The Legislature shall provide for 
 the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, 
 wherein all the children of this State may be educated. 
 
 Section 4. Neither the State nor any subdivision thereof, 
 shall use its property or credit or any public money, or authorize or 
 permit either to be used, directly or indirectly, in aid or maintenance, 
 other than for examination or inspection of any school or institution 
 of learning wholly or in part under the control or direction of any 
 religious denomination, or in which any denominational tenet or 
 doctrine is taught. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the clause will remain in the Constitution 
 of the State of New York for all time. 
 
 We had planned this fight at a meeting at my house at which 
 Bishop Henry C. Potter presided. At that meeting we raised an 
 ample fund for expenses. 
 
 Sixteen years later, in 19 12, I received a letter from an old 
 friend and co-worker, Mr. J. Augustus Johnson, which brought to 
 mind our early fight for the public schools of New York. Perhaps 
 it will not be out of place for me to publish Mr. Johnson's letter. 
 
 Here it is: 
 
 132 
 
The Legal Aid Society 
 
 New York, Oct. 21, 1912. 
 Mr. James A. Scrymser, 
 66 Broadway, 
 
 New York City. 
 My Dear Mr. Scrymser: 
 
 Your continued interest in the public schools of New 
 York encourages me to enlist your co-operation in securing an ade- 
 quate force of teachers -in the night schools for the instruction of the 
 English language to resident immigrants. The proposed budget for 
 the City is now under consideration, and it is feared that the pro- 
 vision for twenty-eight additional teachers for such night schools will 
 be stricken out from motives of economy. 
 
 You first called my attention to the needs of the school 
 system many years ago, when the schools lacked playgrounds, ade- 
 quate seating capacity, capable trustees and ventilation, and to the 
 proximity of saloons and other corrupting influences. At your re- 
 quest, I attended and spoke at a large meeting held at Carnegie Hall, 
 for the promotion of a school census. You will remember, too, that 
 as President of the Good Government Club Council, and of Club E, I 
 named a Committee on Public Schools, whose auxiliary committee of 
 seven ladies blossomed into the Public School Association, with seven 
 hundred members of great activity and usefulness. Among other re- 
 sults was an appropriation of fifteen millions for the public school 
 system of the City made by the Legislature. 
 
 It was your quiet and pervasive influence in building up the 
 modem school system that gave the needed impetus and stimulus to 
 the great reforms which followed, and I hope you may long be spared 
 to see that system fully developed and made available for the millions 
 of immigrants who must be instructed to prevent their becoming a 
 menace. 
 
 Yoiu-s sincerely, 
 
 J. Augustus Johnson, 
 
 of South Orange, N. J. 
 
 The outcome of the campaign for the enlargement and better- 
 ment of pubUc school facilities in New York City was an awaken- 
 ing of wide-spread interest in the entire school system and resulted 
 in the organization of the original Public School Association, to 
 which Mr. Johnson refers in his letter, in the Kindergarten Associ- 
 ation, the Vacation Schools and in many other organizations formed 
 for the welfare of teachers and scholars. 
 
 One good work, resulting from the campaign, I feel that I 
 
 133 
 
must mention, and that is, the association which was planned and 
 managed so efficiently by Miss Grace H. Dodge, Miss Helen 
 Iselin, Mrs. Edward R. Hewitt, Miss S. M. Minturn, and Miss 
 Jane B. Potter. This association provided art students and school 
 teachers with a free round trip of ten days to the World's Fair, 
 at Chicago. In all, one hundred and sixty-six women were pro- 
 vided for. The trips were taken under the guidance of capable 
 matrons both in New York and Chicago. In Chicago a furnished 
 house was secured and the tourists were provided with every com- 
 fort. Every detail was superbly managed and even the departure 
 of trains from New York was so timed that each party had a 
 morning view of Niagara Falls. Each tourist was provided with 
 an accident insurance policy, covering all risks from the time of 
 leaving until the return to New York. Happily not an accident 
 of any kind occurred to any of the guests of the Association. 
 
 Mention is made of this interest in the art student and teacher 
 because it was undoubtedly the beginning of a wider interest 
 which has since been evidenced all over the country in the welfare 
 of the teacher as well as of the scholar. Parent and Teachers' 
 associations now exist throughout the land and are doing much 
 to improve the relations between teacher and scholar and to 
 foster cooperation between the home and the school. 
 
 Much of this work for school betterment and wider interest 
 in the schools had its origin in the reading of the clipping from the 
 New York World mentioned on page 126. 
 
 134 
 
Vacation Schools 
 
 WHEN I was Vice-President of the New York Association for 
 Improving the Condition of the Poor, I had the privilege of 
 inaugurating the first Summer Vacation Schools. I was opposed 
 by certain members of the Board on the ground that solicitation 
 for funds to pay the expenses of these Vacation Schools would im- 
 pair the regular contributions upon which the Association depended. 
 Happily, the public subscribed several thousand dollars in excess 
 of the estimated expenses and the solicitation for funds did not 
 impair, in any way, the regular contributions toward the Associ- 
 ation's work. 
 
 The first Vacation Schools were started in the Summer of 
 1894. The Board of Education assigned to our Association four 
 school buildings, the Association agreeing to pay all expenses, for 
 janitors, teachers, etc. The schools were open for six weeks and 
 there was an attendance of 28,000 out of 31,000 enrolled. The 
 total cost was less than $4,000. The Vacation Schools were a 
 success from the start. In 1895 the Board of Education gave us 
 the use of six school buildings. 
 
 I endeavored to keep the work entirely independent of any so- 
 called "Fresh Air Work." After the closing of the schools it was 
 arranged that the "Vacation School" children should have an 
 outing to Coney Island, to be paid for by private subscription. 
 
 I remember that we charged the children of ten years and over 
 ten cents each for the excursion and the children under ten years 
 five cents, we paying all other expenses, and I have always felt 
 that the wonderful success of these excursions was due to the fact 
 that the children themselves contributed toward the cost of the 
 same. I have neither time nor space to speak of the great success 
 of these Vacation Schools. To-day there are many in the City of 
 New York and, following New York's example, similar schools 
 have been established in all of the large cities of the United States 
 and Canada and, to a large extent, in England and her colonies. 
 
 135 
 
When I suggested such sessions, I was impressed by the fact that 
 all of our school buildings were standing unoccupied in the Summer 
 months, yet the children were running in the streets, with nowhere 
 else to go. I felt that by opening the school buildings the children 
 would have an opportunity for recreation as well as for instruction. 
 We are gradually learning much in this country in the matter of 
 a wider use of our public school buildings. 
 
 The splendidly equipped Manual Training and Vocational 
 Schools throughout the country, the great Recreation Centers in 
 the large cities, and the marvelous Playgrounds, established in 
 hundreds of places, undoubtedly had their inception in the Vaca- 
 tion School movement inaugurated, as I have described, over 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 136 
 
11 liifilLtiilaiite 
 
 
 UNITED CHARITIES BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY 
 
United Chanties Building 
 
 5H0RTLY after I became a member of the Board of Managers 
 of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of 
 the Poor, I became deeply impressed with the fact that the Associ- 
 ation's headquarters at 79 Fourth Avenue was wholly inadequate 
 for its growing work. At a Board meeting, in the Summer of 1892, 
 I referred to this fact and strongly advocated the securing of new 
 and larger quarters. I had long been of the opinion that the in- 
 fluential charity organizations in the city, each specializing in a 
 measure, could do far better administrative work if they were all 
 quartered in one building, a building confined exclusively to the 
 work of charitable societies ; in other words, a UNITED CHARI- 
 TIES BUILDING. 
 
 My propositions — for new quarters and a United Charities 
 Building — met with instant favor and the Board appointed a 
 Special Committee to confer with like special committees from the 
 other societies who were to be invited to join in the conference. 
 These other societies were the Charity Organization Society, the 
 Children's Aid Society and the City Mission and Tract Society, 
 and their respective managers were equally enthusiastic over the 
 project. 
 
 Our Joint Committee was successful in raising $160,000 when, 
 unfortunately, the upset in financial circles, caused by the failure 
 of Baring Brothers and Company of London, put a stop to any 
 further subscriptions. At about this time, I was lunching at the 
 Downtown Club with Robert W. deForest, another member of the 
 Joint Committee, and both of us were in a depressed state of mind 
 because of our failure to raise the required $500,000 for our United 
 Charities Building. We discussed pros and cons, ways and means, 
 but without avail. Dm-ing our conversation, I was surprised to 
 see Mr. deForest suddenly leave the table. As he left he hurriedly 
 remarked to me "There is the man we want," pointing to one of 
 New York's foremost citizens, John S. Kennedy. 
 
 137 
 
Mr. deForest rejoined me shortly with a smile on his face, 
 telling me that Mr. Kennedy had said that our United Charities 
 Building project should not fail and that, if we would find a suitable 
 location, he (Mr. Kennedy) would personally undertake the es- 
 tablishment of a suitable building. This news was certainly good 
 news and was received with delight. Within a week, we had se- 
 cured an option on five city lots, on the comer of Fourth Avenue 
 and Twenty-second Street and, within a year thereafter, the United 
 Charities Building was completed and occupied by the Charity 
 Organization Society, the Children's Aid Society, the City Mission 
 and Tract Society and the New York Association for Improving 
 the Condition of the Poor. 
 
 Later, the original building and subsequent additions were 
 formally deeded to the four organizations which I have named, as 
 a gift from Mr. Kennedy, the said organizations agreeing to share 
 jointly in the expense of repairs and upkeep, as well as to participate 
 in all rentals from other charitable societies admitted as ten- 
 ants in the building. This magnificent gift of John S. Kennedy, 
 costing over one million dollars, has been of imtold value to the 
 charitable institutions of New York City, promoting, as it has, 
 co-operation and close association, thus making possible both re- 
 duced expenses and largely increased facilities for the carrying on 
 of the charitable work of New York. 
 
 138 
 
> 2 
 w n 
 
 o w 
 
Memorial Building in Washington 
 
 To the Memory of the Heroic Women of the Civil War 
 To be Occupied Permanently by the American Red Cross 
 
 ON page 13, I mentioned that my friend General Barlow, just 
 before his death, prophesied that the time would come when 
 one of the finest monuments in the country would be built to the 
 memory of the women of the Civil War and I promised him that 
 I would do all I could to further that project. 
 
 Many times the memory of this conversation came back to 
 me and, in the Fall of 191 1, I determined to see what I could do 
 toward the fulfilment of General Barlow's prophesy and my prom- 
 ise to him. Accordingly, on October 4, 1911,1 attended a meeting 
 of the Commandery of the State of New York of the MiHtary 
 Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, of which Com- 
 mandery I was a member. Toward the end of the meetimg, when 
 new buisness was in order, I told my companions of the Loyal 
 Legion of my last interview with General Barlow and, also, what 
 I knew of the services and sacrifices of Mrs. Barlow and other 
 loyal northern women in the Civil War. 
 
 Recalling General Barlow's prophesy, I proposed that the 
 New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion should take the in- 
 itiative and laimch a project for the building of a National Monu- 
 ment in the City of Washington to the memory of the loyal women 
 who, in the Civil War, as mothers and wives so heroically devoted 
 themselves to our sick and wounded soldiers on the battlefield 
 and in the hospital. I proposed that the sum of five hundred 
 thousand dollars be raised to build such a monument, and per- 
 sonally guaranteed fifty thousand dollars upon condition that 
 three hundred thousand dollars be raised within one year from 
 
 139 
 
that date. The proposal met with the instant favor of my com- 
 panions and a Resolution was formally adopted to further the 
 project. 
 
 It was voted to place the project in the hands of a Special 
 Committee, to be termed the Committee on Ways and Means. 
 Of this Committee, I was made the Chairman and my associates 
 were Major-General Frederick D. Grant, General Thomas H. 
 Hubbard, General J. Fred Pierson, Major J. Langdon Ward, 
 Lieut. Loyall Farragut and Lieut. Thomas Sturgis. The Com- 
 mittee on Ways and Means voted to send a copy of the Resolution 
 to the Loyal Legion Commanderies of the country, to the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, to the Woman's Relief Corps of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic and to all kindred associations, asking all 
 to co-operate with the Commandery of the State of New York in 
 the collecting of subscriptions for the building of the Monument. 
 
 A Committee of Patriotic Citizens, embracing the prominent 
 men and women of New York, was formed to give impetus and 
 publicity to the project. Thousands of circulars were dispatched 
 all over the country, giving details of the project and quoting in 
 full an eloquent address by the Hon. James M. Beck, entitled 
 "The American Women in the Civil War," delivered at the Dinner 
 of the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion held at Del- 
 monico's, October 4, 191 1. 
 
 In addition to the above the following appeals were mailed 
 broadcast, the first addressed "To All Patriotic Men and Women," 
 and the second to the "Veteran Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil 
 War;" the latter through the indirect but friendly co-operation of 
 the Pension Bureau in Washington. These patriotic appeals 
 were both composed by my friend, Hon. H. D. Estabrook, of New 
 York. 
 
 140 
 
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States 
 
 CoMMANDERY OF THB STATE OF New York 
 
 Headquarters, No. 140 Nassau Street, New York, N. V. 
 
 Telephone 4474 Beekman 
 
 TO HELP TO BUILD 
 
 ® (Jtattonaf (gtonument in iU Cit:^ of WciB^ington 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 THE LOYAL WOMEN OF THE CIVIL WAR 
 WHO SERVED IN THEIR HOMES. ON THE BATTLE-FIELDS. AND IN THE HOSPITALS 
 
 TO ALL PATRIOTIC MEN AND WOMEN 
 
 THIS project has lain dormant in the public conscience for fifty years 
 awaiting some initiative to bring it to fruition. Every patriotic 
 citizen of the United States should heartily approve the undertaking; and 
 it follows that if each will express his, or her, approval by a contribution, 
 however small, the necessary funds will be forthcoming, and the monument 
 will be built to stand for all time a worthy symbol of the Nation's gratitude. 
 TTiis appeal for funds is national — to each and to every one ! 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FREDERICK D. GRANT 
 
 GENERAL THOMAS H. HUBBARD 
 
 GENERAL J. FRED PIERSON 
 
 MAJOR J. LANGDON WARD 
 
 CAPT. JAMES A. SCRYMSER 
 
 LIEUT. LOYALL FARRAGUT 
 
 LIEUT. THOMAS STURGIS 
 
 Contributions may be forwarded to the Secretary and Treasurer, 
 
 A. Noel Blakeman, Recorder, 
 
 140 Nassau Street, New York City , 
 By check or postal money order. 
 
 141 
 
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States 
 
 COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 Headquarters, No. 140 Nassau Street, New York, N. Y. 
 Telephone 4474 Beekman 
 
 attention ! ! 
 
 VETERAN SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 
 WE ASK FOR FUNDS TO BUILD 
 
 @, (lUtionaf (Qlonument in t^e Cxi^ of ^(XB^xno^on 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 THE LOYAL WOMEN OF THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 WHO SERVED IN THEIR HOMES, ON THE BATTLE-FIELDS. AND IN THE HOSPITALS 
 
 COMRADES: 
 
 These women were yours — your mothers, your sisters, and your wives. 
 You know that they were your co-equals in labor and more than your 
 equals in bitterness of sorrow ; for in your absence at the front they bore 
 your burdens on their shoulders and your sufferings in their hearts. Will 
 you quit the battle-field of life and leave no enduring expression of your 
 appreciation ? Here is your holy privilege, not to be relegated to others. 
 Give, therefore, as you are able ; give even from your poverty. Give now, 
 for the last roll-call is near. Forgetfulness is injustice. Remembrance is 
 a sacred duty. 
 
 Fraternally yours, 
 
 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FREDERICK D. GRANT 
 
 GENERAL THOMAS H. HUBBARD 
 
 GENERAL J. FRED PIERSON 
 
 MAJOR J. LANGDON WARD 
 
 CAPT. JAMES A. SCRYMSER 
 
 LIEUT. LOYALL FARRAGUT 
 
 LIEUT. THOMAS STURGIS 
 
 Contributions may be forwarded to the Secretary and Treasurer, 
 A. Noel Blakeman, Recorder, 
 
 140 Nassau Street. New York City, 
 By check or postal money order. 
 
 142 
 
We labored strenuously to raise the required amount but in 
 the end, were unsuccessful. The other State Commanderies of 
 the Loyal Legion, with one or two exceptions, did not support the 
 project at all. 
 
 In the original circulars I merely used the words "National 
 Monument" and did not undertake to specify just what form this 
 monument should take. In the course of time I became of the 
 opinion that the most appropriate form for the "finest monument 
 in the country" would be an administration building, in Washing- 
 ton, for the permanent headquarters of the American Red Cross, 
 a building which would stand for all time as a symbol of the 
 Nation's gratitude to the loyal women of the Civil War. 
 
 When I saw that the Loyal Legion could not hope to raise the 
 required amount, I suggested to the Committee that we make 
 arrangements with the American Red Cross for a joint under- 
 taking. The Committee concurred and, through Mr. Robert W. 
 deForest, the Vice-President of the American Red Cross, arrange- 
 ments were finally made whereby the Red Cross was to obtain 
 from Congress an appropriation for a proper site in Washington 
 for a Monumental Building to be built by the Loyal Legion Com- 
 mandery of the State of New York and its friends and to be occu- 
 pied and maintained by the American Red Cross as its Head- 
 quarters. 
 
 Otu- formal announcement to this effect was as follows: 
 
 143 
 
^ixnounumttd 
 
 THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 
 
 of the 
 
 COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 of the 
 
 MILITARY ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 are pleased to annoimce to the members of the New York Com- 
 mandery and to all interested in the project for 
 
 ^ (Jldtiondf (Btonument in tU CUt^ of ^(XB^inc^on 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 THE LOYAL WOMEN OF THE CIVIL WAR, WHO 
 SERVED IN THEIR HOMES, ON THE 
 BATTLE-FIELDS, AND IN THE HOSPITALS 
 that permanent arrangements have been made with 
 
 THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS 
 
 whereby the RED CROSS is to obtain from the Congress of the United States 
 an appropriation for a proper site for a Monumental BuUding to be buUt by 
 the Commandery of the State of New York and its friends, and perpetually 
 occupied and maintained by the RED CROSS as its Headquarters, which 
 monumental building shall stand for all time as a symbol of the Nation's 
 gratitude to the loyal women of the Civil War. 
 
 Thus the patriotic and humane spirit of the women who created the 
 Sanitary Commission, which cared for our Soldiers and Sailors during the 
 War, descends upon the RED CROSS, which wiU, with its efficient organi- 
 zation, care for all sufferers in time of disaster. 
 
 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, 
 
 General Stewart L. Woodford 
 General Thomas H. Hubbard 
 General J. Fred Pierson 
 Major J. Langdon Ward 
 Captain James A. Scrymser 
 Lieut. Loyall Farragut 
 Lieut. Thomas Sturgis 
 Captain James A. Scrymser, Chairman 
 
 66 Broadway, N. Y. 
 Contributions may be forwarded to the Secretary and Treasurer, 
 
 John L. Merrill, 
 
 Room 1900, 66 Broadway, New York City, 
 By check or postal money order. 
 
 144 
 
I received the following letter from President Taft, heartily- 
 approving of the new arrangement: 
 
 THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 Dear Captain Scrymser: 
 
 I most heartily approve of the project of the Commandery 
 of the State of New York of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of 
 the United States to build in the City of Washington a National Monu- 
 ment to the Memory of the Loyal Women of the Civil War, which 
 shall become in perpetuity the headquarters of the American National 
 Red Cross. 
 
 Memorials to the men of the Civil War are prominent 
 throughout the country, and shall our people be less grateful to the 
 women who labored at home, on the battle-field, and in the hospitals 
 with a patriotic devotion unexcelled, and who, in giving those they 
 loved, made even a greater sacrifice? 
 
 What better monument could we build to those noble 
 women than a building at the National Capitol to perpetuate their 
 heroic effort to relieve the human suffering which inevitably follows 
 war or any great calamity, and which found its first expression in the 
 great Sanitary Commission of our Civil War? For it was on women's 
 initiative that this Sanitary Commission was inaugurated, and its 
 success was largely due to their tireless efforts. The splendid work of 
 this American organization was recognized by the Convention of 
 Geneva in 1864, when the International Red Cross Treaty was en- 
 acted. 
 
 Upon the American Red Cross has fallen the mantle of the 
 Sanitary Commission. The loyal and patriotic spirit of the women to 
 whom this memorial is built will be forever perpetuated in the humane 
 work of the Red Cross, to which they gave the initial impulse. 
 
 As President Lincoln so truly said, "If all that has been said 
 by orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise of 
 women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them 
 justice for their conduct during the war." 
 
 I wish the project the success it deserves. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Wm. H. Taft. 
 
 Captain James A. Scrymser, Chairman, 
 66 Broadway, 
 
 New York City. 
 
 It was hoped, and expected, that the plan would appeal to the 
 public. 
 
 145 
 
A Bill was introduced in both Houses of Congress, authorizing 
 the Government purchase of such a site upon the raising of the 
 sum of $300,000 by the Commandery of the State of New York for 
 the building, the latter sum having been guaranteed. 
 
 The original appropriation for the site was fixed at $300,000 
 but the Library Committee of the Senate and the House Com- 
 mittee on Public Buildings and Grounds voluntarily increased this 
 sum to $400,000. Both of these committees were much interested 
 in the memorial project and, also, in the great work of the American 
 Red Cross, at home and abroad, and appeared to appreciate 
 thoroughly the appropriateness of the memorial and the need of 
 such headquarters. 
 
 A Bill appropriating the sum of $400,000 unanimously passed 
 the United States Senate on August 12, 19 12, and the Committee 
 on Public Buildings and Grounds unanimously and favorably ap- 
 proved a like Bill in the House of Representatives, thus placing 
 the same on the calendar for the consideration of the House at its 
 next Session in December, 19 12. It was unfortunate for the proj- 
 ect that the Bill in question went over to that Session. On the 
 night of February 26, 1913, the Bill was discussed in the Senate 
 three and one-half hours. The debate was largely on the retention 
 of the word "Loyal," and a new bill was substituted, excluding 
 "The Loyal Women of the Civil War" and the Loyal Legion by a 
 vote of forty ayes to twenty-four nays. Senator Root finally 
 succeeded in having the latter vote reconsidered and secured the 
 passage of the original Bill by a vote of thirty ayes to twenty nays 
 and the appropriation was placed in the Senate Appropriation 
 Bill, which, in turn, was referred to the Committee of Conferees 
 from both bodies. It was there defeated by a majority voting 
 to omit the obnoxious word "Loyal." 
 
 We, of the Loyal Legion, finally concluded to abandon the 
 project because of the adverse action of Congress. 
 
 Our formal withdrawal is embodied in the attached letter 
 which I addressed to Miss Mabel T. Boardman of the American 
 \ Red Cross: 
 
 146 
 
<2^ommanberg of t^t ^iafc of (Uct» ^orft 
 
 QCpififarg ^rber of f^e feogaf Itegton 
 
 of f 6e (Untfeb ^fafee 
 
 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 
 
 Office of Chairman 
 
 CAPTAIN JAMES A. SCRYMSER 
 
 66 Broadway, New York 
 
 Telephone, 649 Rector 
 
 March 20th, 1913. 
 Miss Mabel T. Boardman: 
 
 Member of the Executive Committee, 
 American Red Cross, 
 
 State, War and Navy Building, 
 Washington, D. C, 
 
 My Dear Miss Boardman: 
 
 The recent debate in Congress and the action of the Con- 
 ference Committee in defeating the Senate Bill, providing for a Me- 
 morial to the Memory of the Loyal Women of the Civil War, because of 
 the inclusion in the Bill of the word "Loyal," forces me to the con- 
 clusion that further effort in Congress upon the part of the Loyal 
 Legion wiU endanger the welfare of the American Red Cross. 
 
 It is unnecessary for me to say to you that this conclusion is 
 reached with painful regret upon the part of myself and my associates. 
 
 The project, in its inception, was based upon the highest pa- 
 triotic motives and it is deplorable that those very motives should be 
 the cause of its defeat and that our efforts to pay a long deferred debt 
 of gratitude to the memory of the loyal women of the Civil War, to 
 whom the Nation and we owe so much, should have been frustrated 
 in such a manner. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it would be unwise to allow the 
 Memorial project to interfere, in any way, with the future of the 
 American Red Cross and, in consequence, the Loyal Legion does, with 
 deep regret, hereby withdraw entirely from any connection with the 
 American Red Cross, for the reason that, if continued, the American 
 Red Cross and the services of the noble, loyal women of the Civil 
 War, might again become the battleground of an unjust and acrimo- 
 nious debate. 
 
 I, therefore, ask that your Executive Committee accept this 
 formal withdrawal of the Commandery of the State of New York of 
 the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States from its 
 association with the American Red Cross and that your Board will 
 accept, at the same time, our most hearty thanks for the devoted 
 services which you and your associates have rendered to the good 
 work, which we have all had so much at heart. 
 
 147 
 
With a personal expression of my sincere appreciation of 
 your unselfish and devoted work and my deep regret over the out- 
 come, I am, 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 JAMES A. SCRYMSER, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 The subscriptions were returned to the original subscribers 
 and our Loyal Legion project was abandoned. 
 
 I wish to record my sincere appreciation of the untiring patri- 
 otic efforts of the Hon. Elihu Root, Senator from New York, and 
 Hon. Theodore E. Burton, Senator from Ohio, who so ably sup- 
 ported the project at all times. Also, my warm appreciation of 
 the services of Miss Mabel T. Boardman, of the American Red 
 Cross, who labored loyally and zealously for the project. Upon 
 my urgent request, Miss Boardman has allowed me to publish her 
 picture herewith, upon which she has written 
 
 To Mr. James A. Scrymser with sincere 
 gratitude for turning into marble 
 a Red Cross castle in the air. 
 
 Miss Boardman asked for my photograph in return and this 
 I sent to her, with the following inscription 
 
 Re Building 
 In memory of the Heroic Women of the Civil War 
 and for 
 The American Red Cross 
 
 My dear Miss Boardman; 
 
 In 191 3 you turned defeat into victory and won the ad- 
 miration and esteem of your dearest foes. Accept my congratu- 
 lations and counterpart. 
 
 James A. Scrymser. 
 
 Although the Loyal Legion was unsuccessful in its original 
 plan, I am glad to be able to say that the Memorial Building in 
 Washington will be an accomplished fact before many months and 
 that it is to be built in accordance with the original plans adopted 
 by the Loyal Legion. 
 
 A new Bill was introduced in Congress and, through the ac- 
 tivity of Miss Boardman of the American Red Cross, and her 
 associates, passed, appropriating the sum of four hundred thousand 
 

dollars toward the purchase of a site, conditional upon the raising 
 of a like amount by the Red Cross for the erection of a building. 
 The latter four hundred thousand dollars was contributed by Mrs. 
 Russell Sage, Mrs. E. H. Harriman, the Rockefeller Foundation 
 and myself. After the passage of the Bill, the desired site was se- 
 cured by the American Red Cross. The property fronts on Seven- 
 teenth Street, Washington, and is three hundred and two feet wide 
 and five hundred and forty feet deep. 
 
 On the opposite page is a photograph of the Memorial Build- 
 ing, now under course of construction. It will be a building of 
 rare beauty and a fit companion for its nearest neighbors, the 
 Corcoran Art Gallery, the Continental Hall of the Daughters of 
 the American Revolution and the Pan-American Building. 
 
 The building will bear this inscription. 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF THE HEROIC WOMEN OF THE 
 
 CIVIL WAR. 
 
 The interior of the building is to bear the following inscription: 
 
 A MEMORIAL 
 
 built by 
 
 The Government of the United States 
 
 and 
 
 Patriotic Citizens 
 
 to 
 
 The Heroic Women of the Civil War, both North 
 
 and South 
 
 Held in Loving Memory 
 
 by 
 
 a Now United Country 
 
 and 
 
 That their labors to mitigate the sufferings of the sick 
 
 and wounded in war may be forever perpetuated this 
 
 Memorial is dedicated to the service of The 
 
 American Red Cross 
 
 The inscription is not, of course, in accord with my original 
 suggestion nor with my contention that the United States Govern- 
 ment should have specifically honored the women who suffered so 
 
 149 
 
nobly for its preservation in the dark days of its existence, but I 
 shall ever be grateful that the American Red Cross is, at last, to 
 have a permanent headquarters, and likewise for the fact that I 
 personally was privileged to suggest its establishment. And I 
 shall feel that I have partially succeeded in carrying out the 
 prophecy of General Barlow and my promise made to that end. 
 The Commandery of the State of New York of the Military 
 Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States did me the honor on 
 May 6, 19 14 to elect me its Senior Vice-Commander, in apprecia- 
 tion of the successful creation of the Memorial to the Heroic 
 Women of the Civil War, as will be seen by a perusal of the follow- 
 ing letter. 
 
 New York, March 4, 1914. 
 Captain James A. Scrymser, 
 
 United States Volunteer. 
 My dear Companion: 
 
 We can never forget the patriotic work that you did to 
 secure a memorial building, to be dedicated to the loyal women of our 
 country, and, later your generous gift to the one to be erected in 
 Washington. The facts, with more amplified details, I presented 
 at our first meeting of the Nominating Committee for Officers of the 
 New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of 
 the United States, this afternoon. 
 
 In offering your name for the position of Senior Vice- 
 Commander, I read the inclosed biographical notice, and stated that 
 the Commandery would be honored by your acceptance of the office, 
 in connection with your association with those of the Memorial 
 Committee in Washington. Commander Edwin Stewart, U. S. N. 
 (retired), was nominated to succeed himself and you were unani- 
 mously nominated to the next highest office. Senior Vice-Commander. 
 For the purpose of urging you not to decline I called at your resi- 
 dence this afternoon and now write to you hoping that you will accept 
 immediately, on the receipt of the official notice from the Recorder. 
 Commander Stewart has presided at every meeting of the 
 Commandery since he was elected. Even if you only remain on duty 
 for one term of office (one year) I sincerely hope that you will permit 
 us to place you on record among the highest officers of the largest 
 Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the 
 United States. On Wednesday next we again meet to receive the 
 acceptances and, if possible, complete the duties of the Nominating 
 Committee for the year 1914-1915. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 CharIvES a. LealE, 
 Member of the Nominating Committee. 
 
 150 
 
 
A formal letter from Commander Charles A. Adams, the 
 Secretary of the Nommating Committee, notifying me of my nomi- 
 nation, followed the above and on May yth I received the regular 
 notification from the Recorder, to the effect that I had been elected 
 Senior Vice-Commander. 
 
 LSI 
 
In ConcI 
 
 onciusion 
 
 IN this relation of incidents and the review of half a century's 
 activities, I wish to emphasize one fact, in closing, and that is 
 that any successes which may have been achieved, would not have 
 been possible had it not been for the zealous co-operation of public- 
 spirited citizens and loyal and steadfast friends, a majority of 
 whom have since passed away. 
 
 The memory of their cordial support and unselfish co-oper- 
 ation will ever be held in grateful remembrance. 
 
 J. A. S. 
 New York, February, 19 15. 
 
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